il^mnriai  lag  Annual 

1912 

THE  CAUSES  AND  OUTBREAK 
OF  THE  WAR  BETWEEN 
THE  STATES 

1861—1865 


For  use  as  a  source  book  of  contemporary  authorities. 
Published  by  the  Department  of  Public  Instruction 
of  Virginia  at  the  request  of  the  Confederate 
Memorial  Literary  Society 


RICHMOND,  VA. 
1912 


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IHemnnai  Annual 

1912 


THE  CAUSES  AND  OUTBREAK 
OF  THE  WAR  BETWEEN 
THE  STATES 

1861—1865 


For  use  as  a  source  book   of  contemporary  authorities. 
Published  by  the  Department  of  Public  Instruction 
of  Virginia  at  the  request  of  the  Confederate 
Memorial  Literary  Society 

RICHMOND,  VA. 
1912 


) 


RICHMOND  PRESS, 
INC., 
PRINTERS. 


Table  of  Contents. 


Page 


Letter  to  the  Public  School  Teachers  of  Virginia — Jos.  D. 

Eggleston,  Jr.,  Supt.  Public  Instruction   7 

Dixie  Land   9 

The  Right  of  Secession — H.  J.  Eckenrode,  State  Archivist .  .  10 

"What  Constitutes  a  State?" — Sir  William  Jones   20 

The  Maintenance  of  the  Doctrine  of  Secession — H.  R.  Mc- 

Ilwaine,  State  Librarian   21 

The  Government  of  Virginia  in  1861 — Douglas  S.  Free- 
man, Ph.  D   27 

Slavery  in  Virginia  in  1861 — Douglas  S.  Freeman,  Ph.  D.  .  31 

Virginia — Song  with  music   33 

The  John  Brown  Raid — Douglas  S.  Freeman,  Ph.  D   36 

The  Position  of  Virginia  in  1861 — Hon,  Edwin  P.  Cox   44 

Old  Black  Joe— Poem   66 

Fort  Sumter — Hon.  George  L.  Christian   67 

The  Act  of  Secession — Mrs.  Kate  Pleasants  Minor,  Refer- 
ence Librarian,  Virginia  State  Library   74 

The  Sword  of  Lee — Father  Ryan   84 

Recognition  of  Virginia's  Position  by  her  Former  Foes — 

Professor  D.  R.  Anderson   85 

Origin  and  Meaning  of  Memorial  Day — Mrs.  Kate  Pleas- 
ants Minor,  Reference  Librarian,  Virginia  State 

Library  ^   87 

The  Bonnie  Blue  Flag — Song.   89 

Suggested  Programme  for  Schools — J.  H.  Binford,  Secre- 
tary Co-operative  Education  Ass'n  of  Virginia   91 

Extract  from  "The  Old  Virginia  Gentleman"— Geo.  W. 

Bagby   94 


r0 


To  the  Public  School  Teachers  of  Virginia: 

The  object  of  this  publication  is  to  place  in  the  hands  of 
the  teachers  of  Virginia  a  synopsis  of  the  conditions  existing 
in  the  State  at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  It  is  intended  to 
answer  fully  and  finally  the  question,  Why  did  Virginia 
secede?  As  the  answer  to  this  question,  to  a  certain  extent, 
determines  the  right  of  Virginians  to  a  place  among  patriots, 
no  child  should  be  allowed  to  grow  up  without  a  clear  under- 
standing of  the  issues  involved. 

The  quotations  include  some  statements  so  simple  that  a 
little  child  may  understand  them,  but  the  Annual  is  nat 
intended  primarily  for  the  children.  It  is  hoped  that  the 
teachers  will  find  in  it  material  to  use  in  inculcating  love  of 
home  and  country,  and  will  adapt  the  contents  to  the  grade 
each  teacher  is  called  upon  to  instruct.  The  absence  of  any 
adequate  text-book  has  made  this  effort  seem  worth  while, 
and  the  Annual  is  the  result  of  the  combined  wisdom  of 
Confederate  veterans,  professors  of  history,  and  students  of 
political  science. 

JOS.  D.  EGGLESTON,  JR., 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction 


Dixie  Land. 

i. 

I  wish  I  was  in  de  land  ob  cotton, 

Old  times  dar  am  not  forgotten, 
Look  away!  look  away!  look  away!  Dixie  Land. 

In  Dixie  Land  whar  I  was  born  in — 

Early  on  one  frosty  mornin\ 
Look  away!  look  away!  look  away!  Dixie  Land. 

Chorus: 

Den  I  wish  I  was  in  Dixie, 
Hooray!  hooray! 
In  Dixie  Land  Til  take  my  stand 
To  lib  and  die  in  Dixie, 
Away,  away, 
Away  down  south  in  Dixie; 

Away,  away, 
Away  down  south  in  Dixie. 

2. 

Dar's  buck-wheat  cakes  an1  Injun  batter, 
Makes  you  fat  or  a  little  fatter, 

Look  away!  look  away!  look  away!  Dixie  Land. 
Den  hoe  it  down  and  scratch  your  grabble, 
To  Dixie  Land  Tm    bound  to  trabble, 

Look  away!  look  away!  look  away!  Dixie  Land. 


Chorus. 


THE  RIGHT  OF  SECESSION. 


H.  J.  ECKENRODE 

WHAT  was  the  legal  right,  the  principle  appealed  to  by  the 
South  in  seceding  from  the  Union?    More,  what  was 
the  moral  right,  appealed  to  or  not  appealed  to  ?  Seces- 
sion was  a  grave  step  and  one  which  all  knew  would  probably 
lead  to  war.    What  then  was  the  justification  for  this  measure? 

Secession  is  now  so  far  from  being  anything  but  a  historical 
memory  that  it  is  difficult  in  this  age  to  reconstruct  in  mind  the 
time  when  it  was  a  right  as  much  believed  in  as  any  other  politi- 
cal right.  The  modern  compact  American  nation  never  dreams 
of  a  separation  of  its  parts,  but  before  the  process  of  consolida- 
tion millions  of  Americans  entertained  belief  in  secession  as  a 
political  principle1  and  attempted  to  carry  it  into  practice.  The 
reasonableness  of  their  position  cannot  be  understood  without 
bearing  in  mind  the  constitutional  views  they  appealed  to  in 
seceding  and  the  circumstances  that  led  them  to  secede;  for 
human  nature  rather  tends  to  judge  of  the  morality  of  an  action 
by  success  or  failure,  and  since  the  Secession  War,  writers  have 
not  been  wanting  to  show  that  the  South  was  as  wrong  in  theory 
as  it  was  unfortunate  in  the  event. 

The  Southern  arguments  have  been  presented  in  detail  by 
such  logicians  as  Jefferson  Davis  and  Alexander  H.  Stephens 
in  the  years  following  the  war,  and,  more  recently,  but  with  no 
great  addition  of  strength  by  other  writers.  The  case  made 
out  by  the  two  Southern  leaders  is,  on  its  face,  very  strong  and  a 
brief  summary  of  their  arguments  loses  much  of  the  effect  they 
are  able  to  produce. 

In  the  first  place  it  should  be  noted  that  secession  was  not 
regarded  by  Southerners  as  revolution  but  as  a  legal  remedy 
sanctioned  by  the  constitution  in  the  case  of  the  oppression  of  a 

irThus  the  Virginia  Convention  of  1788,  in  adopting  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  for  and  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  Virginia,  declared  "that  the 
powers  granted  under  the  Constitution  being  derived  from  the  People  of  the 
United  States  may  be  resumed  by  them  whensoever  the  sams  shall  be  perverted 
to  their  injury  or  oppression  "    Doc.  History  Constitution,  v.  2,  p.  145. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  II 


State  or  of  States  within  the  Union.  In  the  orthodox  presenta- 
tion of  the  case,  the  right  of  secession  is  primarily  based  on  the 
tenth  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
which  declares  that  those  powers  of  sovereignty  not  expressly 
made  over  to  the  Federal  Government  in  the  Constitution  remain 
with  the  States.  Such  language  naturally  favors  the  theory  of 
the  Union  as  a  compact  of  States  and  presents  the  State  itself 
as  an  entity  with  reserved  powers  beyond  the  Federal  sphere. 
From  this  limitation  of  the  Federal  authority,  this  careful  pro- 
tection of  State  prerogative,  it  is  no  great  step  to  the  right  of 
secession,  for  the  conception  of  the  State  as  sovereign  in  most 
things  and  absolutely  without  power  as  regards  its  connection 
with  other  States  does  not  particularly  commend  itself  to  the 
logical  sense. 

-But  aside  from  the  actual  wording  of  the  Constitution,  it  is 
well  to  consider  the  historical  position  of  the  States  before  its 
adoption  as  well  as  the  opinion  of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
in  regard  to  the  document.  As  colonies  the  thirteen  original 
members  of  the  Union  had  no  political  connection  with  each 
other  except  as  parts  of  the  British  empire ;  they  were  as  indepen- 
dent of  each  other  as  if  they  had  been  scattered  through  the  four 
quarters  of  the  globe.  No  connection  existed  until  1774,  by 
which  time  most  of  the  colonies  had  become  well-organized  and 
self-conscious  political  communities.  Nor  was  this  sense  of 
individual  existence  altered  materially  by  the  events  of  the 
Revolution;  the  government  of  the  Confederation  was  much 
less  of  a  trammel  than  had  been  that  of  Great  Britain,  and,  in 
1787,  when  the  Constitution  was  framed  the  States  were  a 
group  of  republics2  bound  together  in  a  league.  Later  on,  this 
pristine  condition  of  freedom  was  remembered  at  different  times 
by  aggrieved  States,  and  lastly  and  more  particularly  by  the 
Southern  States,  which  believed  that  they  might  lawfully  return 
to  the  original  condition  when  the  Union  no  longer  seemed  the 
bulwark  and  protection  it  had  been  at  first. 

2 As  an  instance  of  this  it  is  worthy  of  comment  that  Patrick  Henry,  in  his 
official  correspondence  as  Governor  of  Virginia,  refers  frequently  to  the  Old 
Dominion,  not  as  "this  State,"  but  as  "this  country".  For  a  full  explanation 
of  the  Southern  view  of  the  Constitution  in  1830,  see  Hayne's  reply  to  Webster 
January  30,  1830,  Congressional  Debates,  21st  Congress,  1st  session,  VI,  pt.  1, 
reprinted  in  MacDonald's  Select  Documents  of  United  States  History  (N.  Y., 
1898),  p.  250. 


12  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


The  Southern  contention  has  been  combated  in  two  ways. 
The  argument  usually  advanced,  granting  that  the  States  had 
been  free  and  independent  under  the  old  Union  before  the  adop- 
tion of  the  constitution  of  1787, 3  holds  that  they  voluntarily 
laid  down  their  powers  when  they  united  to  form  a  national 
government,  which  could  not  be  justly  dissolved  on  any  grounds 
or  for  any  reasons  whatever.  But  the  admission  that  the  States 
had  once  been  independent  was  so  damaging  that  the  jurist 
Story4  endeavored  to  undermine  the  Southern  argument  by 
boldly  denying,  in  spite  of  the  imposing  array  of  contemporary 
opinion,  that  the  States  had  ever  been  free  and  independent 
agents,  capable  of  entering  into  or  refusing  to  enter  into  a  com- 
pact. Thus,  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  he  maintained, 
was  not  an  act  performed  by  the  States  through  their  delegates 
in  the  Continental  Congress  but  by  the  people  of  the  United 
Colonies  acting  in  a  sovereign  capacity  without  regard  to  their 
local  governments.5  Likewise  the  constitution  of  1787  was  not 
the  work  of  the  representatives  of  the  States  but  of  the  "people" 
of  the  United  States.  Story's  somewhat  over-legal  argument  is 
presented  in  historical  form  by  the  German  historian,  Von  Hoist. 
Since  the  latter  writer  cannot  deny  the  lack  of  connection  be- 
tween the  colonies  before  the  Revolution  and  the  subsequent 
independence  of  the  individual  States  under  the  Articles  of 
Confederation,  he  takes  the  ground  that  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  a  spontaneous  and  unique  action  of  the  people 
of  the  confederacy,  who,  ordinarily  content  to  express  them- 
selves through  the  medium  of  their  distinctive  governments,  in 
this  case,  as  in  1787,  asserted  themselves  as  a  single  people. 

This  theory  is  very  clearly  and  conclusively  answered  by 

3The  Philadelphia  Convention  of  1787,  called  by  Congress  at  the  suggestion 
of  Virginia  and  other  States,  was  organized  on  May  25,  1787,  and,  after  de- 
bating for  more  than  three  months,  adopted  the  Constitution  on  September 
15,  1787.    The  document  was  signed  two  days  later. 

4Joseph  Story  (1779-1845),  one  of  the  ablest  of  American  jurists,  whose 
Commentaries  on  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  here  referred  to,  is  one 
of  the  classics  of  American  constitutional  law.  His  life  has  been  written  by 
his  son,  Wm.  W.  Story. 

°The  chief  point  made  by  Story  may  be  stated  succinctly  thus:  The  Con- 
stitution was  the  act  of  the  United  States  and  not  of  the  States  united. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  13 


Stephens,6  the  ablest  writer  on  the  Southern  side,  who  points 
out  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  adopted  by  a 
Congress  of  deputies  appointed  by  the  States  and  voting  by 
States.  "The  deputies  or  delegates  from  no  State  assumed  to 
vote  for  it  until  specially  instructed  and  empowered  so  to  do." 
Stephens  further  shows  that  the  States  were  practically  indepen- 
dent during  the  Revolution,  when  the  requisitions7  of  Congress 
were  complied  with  or  not  at  pleasure.  Several  of  them  main- 
tained regular  military  and  naval  forces  in  no  wise  under  the 
authority  of  Congress,  while  Virginia  carried  on  a  war  in  the 
West  as  a  purely  individual  enterprise.8  The  agents  of  Virginia 
in  various  countries  represented  her  in  a  commercial  capacity 
and  bought  military  supplies  as  for  a  free  power.  The  Articles 
of  Confederation,  adopted  in  1781,  the  first  American  constitu- 
tion, declare  that  "each  State  retains  its  Sovereignty,  freedom 
and  independence." f  Furthermore,  the  independence  of  the 
individual  States  was  recognized  by  England  in  the  treaty  of 
1783, 10  which  declares  that  "His  Britannic  Majesty  acknowledges 
the  said  United  States  [naming  themj  to  be  free;  sovereign  and 
independent  States;  and  he  treats  with  them  as  such."  Be- 
sides, a  great  mass  of  contemporary  evidence  remains  to  illus- 
trate the  opinion  of  the  age  as  to  State  sovereignty. 

It  is  evident  then  that  the  South  had  excellent  reasons  for 

6Stephens  was  born  in  Georgia,  in  1812,  and  died  there,  in  1883.  Deformed 
in  body  and  unprepossessing  in  appearance,  he  was  nevertheless  regarded  by 
many  of  his  contemporaries  as  the  ablest  mind  in  the  civil  life  of  the  Confed- 
eracy. Posterity  has  confirmed  this  judgment  in  large  measure.  His 
Constitutional  View  of  the  War  between  the  States  is  the  book  referred  to  here. 

7One  of  the  most  striking  proofs  of  this  independence  was  the  action  of  the 
States  in  granting  or  denying,  as  they  chose,  the  requisitions  for  funds  made 
upon  them  by  the  Continental  Congress.  This  neglect  of  Congress  reached 
such  dimensions  towards  the  end  of  the  war  that  the  Continental  authorities 
confessed  themselves  impotent. 

8This  was  the  expedition  undertaken  by  George  Rogers  Clark  in  1779. 
Clark  was  commissioned  by,  and  was  under  the  orders  of,  the  Governor  of 
Virginia,  Patrick  Henry.  The  funds  for  his  expedition  were  furnished  by  the 
State. 

9Article  II  "Each  State  retains  its  sovereignty,  freedom  and  independence, 
and  every  power,  jurisdiction  and  right,  which  is  not  by  this  confederation 
expressly  delegated  to  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled."  See  Mac- 
Donald,  op.  cit.,  p.  7. 

10This  treaty  was  signed  at  Paris,  September  3,  1783,  and  was  ratified  by 
Congress,  January  14,  1784. 


14  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


believing  that  the  States  had  been  sovereign  and  competent  to 
control  their  destinies  prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  present  Con- 
stitution in  1788.  But  this  is  not  enough.  If  a  consolidated 
government  came  into  existence  in  1789,  one  under  which  the 
States  lost  their  sovereign  powers,  it  would  be  difficult  to  justify 
secession  on  the  single  ground  of  their  ancient  freedom.  Were 
the  States  still  free  agents  in  any  sense  as  against  the  Federal 
Government  after  that  year? 

The  interpretation  of  the  Constitution  of  1787  has  thus  been 
the  great  battle-ground  of  the  secession  controversy.  Without 
going  deeply  into  the  question  of  interpretation — a  matter 
varying  with  each  age — a  few  facts  may  be  noted  in  connection 
with  it  that  throw  light  on  the  States  Rights  position.  In  the 
constitutional  convention  an  effort  was  made  to  form  a  consoli- 
dated, a  truly  national  government,  but  the  plan  met  with  de- 
feat, owing  to  the  attitude  of  the  small  States,  which  refused  to 
surrender  their  sovereignty.  The  Constitution  as  adopted  was  a 
modification  and  strengthening  of  the  Articles  of  Confedera- 
tion, many  features  of  which  remained  little  changed.  States 
Rights  were  carefully  preserved  in  the  institution  of  the  Senate 
with  equal  representation  for  all  the  States  without  regard  to 
population.  Various  functions  of  the  Constitution,  as  Mr. 
Stephens  has  pointed  out,  are  performed  by  the  States;  many 
prohibitions  are  made  to  States.  Senators  are  elected  by  the 
legislatures  of  States;  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
are  to  be  chosen  according  to  the  electoral  qualifications  imposed 
by  the  States;  Congress  is  given  power  to  regulate  commerce 
among  the  States;  no  preference  shall  be  given  the  ports  of  any 
State  over  those  of  others;  no  State  can  enter  into  treaties;  no 
State,  without  the  consent  of  Congress,  shall  lay  imposts.  Such 
frequently  recurring  references  to  the  sphere  of  State  action 
carry  their  own  refutation  of  the  theory  that  the  few  rhetorical 
words  that  preface  the  Constitution,  "We  the  people  of  the 
United  States,"  by  their  own  authority  destroy  State  sovereignty 
and  create  a  consolidation  of  the  American  Union. 

The  first  great  political  contest  of  the  United  States  under  the 
Constitution  arose  largely  on  the  question  of  interpretation. 
The  party  which  had  advocated  a  strongly  national  constitution 
in  the  convention  of  1787  and  which  accepted  the  Federal  Con- 
stitution as  the  most  that  could  be  obtained  under  the  circum- 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  15 


stances  came  into  power  with  Washington  and  attempted  to 
construe  the  Constitution  as  a  consolidation.  The  opposition, 
the  Democratic- Republicans,  maintained  that  the  government 
was  a  compact11  of  States  still  essentially  free.  Prominent 
among  the  founders  and  leaders  of  this  party,  was  Madison, 
who  was  the  chief  author  of  the  Constitution  and  who  is  some- 
times quoted  by  nationalist  writers  as  holding  the  consolidation 
theory.  The  issue  between  the  Democrats  and  Federalists 
came  to  a  head  in  1798  with  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts,  which 
elicited  the  Kentucky  and  Virginia  Resolutions  claiming  for  the 
individual  States  the  right  of  negativing  acts  of  Congress  which 
they  might  deem  unjust  and  oppressive.  On  this  platform, 
the  Democratic  party  won  an  overwhelming  victory  in  1800, 
remaining  in  power,  with  the  exception  of  two  short  intervals, 
until  the  Civil  War.  The  people  of  the  United  States,  called  to 
judge  between  the  rival  theories  of  consolidation  and  State 
sovereignty,  thus  emphatically  declared  for  the  latter.  This 
point,  although  seldom  dwelt  upon,  is  of  importance,  for  in  a 
democratic  republic  the  people  may  be  regarded  as  having  a 
certain  power  of  interpreting  their  government,  at  least  while  it  is 
new  and  before  it  has  established  definite  principles. 

By  the  irony  of  history,  which  leads  men  to  such  strange  and 
contradictory  positions  at  different  times,  the  predominance  of 
the  Democratic  party  brought  about  the  assertion  of  the  right 
of  secession  in  the  first  instance  by  New  England,  the  section 
with  the  greatest  grievance  in  the  beginning.  The 
Connecticut  Courant,  a  leading  newspaper,  thus  spoke  in  1796: 
''The  Northern  States  can  subsist  as  a  nation,  as  a  republic, 
without  any  connection  with  the  Southern."  In  1804  John 
Quincy  Adams12  claimed  that  he  knew  of  a  New  England  scheme 
for  the  dissolution  of  the  Union.  In  1814  the  celebrated  Hart- 
ford Convention13  threatened  secession,  declaring  that  separa- 

nIt  is  interesting  to  note  that  this  question  was  raised  in  the  first  Congress 
under  the  Constitution  and  had,  by  1798,  become  a  definite  issue  between  the 
parties.    See  reference  to  the  Virginia  and  Kentucky  Resolutions  below. 

12John  Quincy  Adams  (1767-1848),  sixth  President  of  the  United  States, 
refers  to  this  alleged  "plot"  in  his  Memoirs,  v.  8,  p.  115,  118  ff.  It  received 
slight  attention  at  the  time. 

13The  Hartford  Convention  grew  out  of  the  discontent  felt  by  New  England 
at  the  inevitable  losses  incurred  during  the  war  of  1812.  By  a  vote  of  October 
18,  1814,  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  named  twelve  delegates  to  a  Con- 


16  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 

tion  "should  if  possible,  be  the  work  of  peaceable  times  and 
deliberate  consent  .  .  .  But  the  severance  of  the  Union 
by  one  or  more  States  against  the  will  of  the  rest,  and  especially 
in  time  of  war,  can  only  be  justified  by  absolute  necessity." 
This  report  was  adopted  by  the  legislatures  of  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut,  showing  that  a  quarter  of  a  century  after  the 
framing  of  the  constitution  New  England  States  asserted  the 
right  of  secession.  Even  so  late  as  1845  the  Massachusetts 
legislature,  in  another  declaration,  emphatically  endorsed  State 
sovereignty,  claiming  for  a  State  the  right  of  nullifying  acts  of 
Congress. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  quote  further  examples  to  show  that  the 
Constitution  of  1787,  so  far  from  converting  the  Confederation 
into  a  consolidated  nation,  was  regarded  many  years  after  its 
adoption  and  in  the  region  where  the  theory  of  nationalism  was 
to  have  its  greatest  vogue  as  a  compact  severable  by  the  States 
upon  the  plea  of  necessity.  Authoritative  opinion,  both  in  the 
Xorth  and  South,  from  1798  to  1845,  approved  the  theoretical 
rights  of  nullification  and  secession,  and  consequently  the  South- 
ern States  had  strong  legal  and  historical  reasoning  to  urge  in 
1861.  State  sovereignty  had  been  one  of  the  commonplaces  of 
the  political  creed  of  at  least  a  majority  of  Americans  for  a  con- 
tinuous period  of  more  than  half  a  century. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  doctrine  of  States  Rights  was  in  the 
ascendant  until  nearly  the  middle  of  the  century,  when  the  Story 
school  arose  in  the  land  to  combat  it.  This  theory  teaches,  in 
brief,  that  the  Constitution  created  a  national  Union,  no  matter 
what  were  the  intentions  or  beliefs  of  the  founders  or  contem- 
porary opinion,  an  ingenious  method  of  setting  history  aside 
to  make  way  for  present  convenience.  An  echo  of  this  is  found 
in  Charles  Francis  Adams'  exceedingly  able  article  on  secession, 
in  which  he  speaks  of  the  makers  of  the  Constitution  as  having 

vention  of  States  called  to  find  a  remedj-  for  their  grievances.  Rhode  Island 
and  Connecticut  also  appointed  delegates,  who,  with  those  from  Massachu- 
setts and  others  chosen  by  local  conventions  in  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire, 
met  at  Hartford,  Connecticut,  December  15,  1814.  They  adjourned  on 
January  5,  1815,  at  which  time  they  gave  out  the  report  to  which  reference 
is  made.  The  full  text  of  the  report  may  be  found  in  Dwight's  History  of  the 
Hartford  Convention  (ed.  1833),  p.  352  ff.  The  passage  quoted  here  is  on 
page  355.  Northern  writers — fGr  instance,  MacDonald^  op.  cit., — generally 
omit  that  part  of  the  report  which  refers  to  secession. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


17 


perpetrated  a  "pious  fraud"  on  the  people,  giving  them  a  dif- 
ferent government  from  the  one  believed  to  be  given.  But  what 
becomes  of  constitutional  liberty  on  this  theory?  Apparently 
the  people  of  the  United  States  were  in  the  position  of  the  old 
man  in  the  melodrama,  who  signs  away  his  property  rights  with- 
out knowing  it  and  has  the  document  produced  before  him  at 
the  end  of  the  second  act  to  his  dumbfounding. 

In  recent  years,  however,  writers  have  more  and  more  inclined 
to  admit  the  strength  of  the  Southern  claim  upon  grounds  of 
strict  legality,  and  base  their  denial  of  the  right  of  secession  upon 
political  development,  setting  aside  constitutional  argument 
and  transferring  the  controversy  from  a  legal  to  a  moral  basis. 
They  admit  that  secession  may  have  been  valid  at  one  time  and 
that  its  validity  may  have  continued  after  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution,  but  that  the  development  of  "nationalism"  made 
it  a  thing  of  the  past,  a  political  anachronism,  a  principle  not 
rightly  available  so  late  as  1861.  In  their  view,  although  the 
States  may  have  existed  as  a  Confederation  for  a  certain  time 
after  1789,  they  gradually,  by  degrees,  through  the  continued 
working  of  the  Constitution,  consolidated  into  a  nation.^ 
Thus  secession  was  possibly  justifiable  in  1800  or  1815  but  not 
in  1861. 

It  is  just  this  argument  of  "progressive  nationalism,"  consid- 
ered in  all  its  bearings,  that  most  strongly  supports  the  right  of 
secession.  Without  doubt  the  States  fcad  tended  towards 
nationalization  for  many  years  preceding  the  Civil  War,  but 
at  the  same  time  not  towards  a  national  idea  common  to  all  of 
them.  This  latter  very  apparent  fact  has  been  explained  on  the 
theory  that  nationalism  developed  solely  in  the  Northern 
States,  while  the  Southern  States,  oblivious  to  the  development, 
recognized  only  the  old  idea  of  State  sovereignty.  But  action 
is  equal  to  reaction  in  politics  as  well  as  in  chemistry,  and  amidst 
the  fierce  political  struggles  of  the  middle  century  the  South 
began  instinctively  to  respond  to  the  feeling  of  nationalism  as 
well  as  the  North.  The  Union  was  crystallizing  not  into  a 
single  but  a  dual  nationality. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  Confederation  two  groups  of  States, 

14Such  in  substance  was  the  view  of  Daniel  Webster.  See  his  reply  to 
Hayne,  January  26-27,  1830.  Congressional  Debates,  21st  Congress,  1st 
session,  VI.  pt.  1. 


18  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


the  Northern  and  Southern,  had  stood  out  in  marked  contrast, 
and  as  the  nineteenth  century  grew  the  difference  grew,  not 
lessened.  The  North  developed  into  a  modern  industrial  coun- 
try, with  the  social  constitution  of  industrialism;  the  South 
remained  a  colonial  agricultural  community,  with  its  strongly 
conservative  institutions  and  society.  As  the  two  communi- 
ties, combined  in  the  same  confederacy  under  the  same  flag, 
became  more  unlike,  they  tended  to  grow  more  homogeneous 
around  their  own  centers.  In  the  beginning  Virginia  and  Penn- 
sylvania had  been  closer  than  Virginia  and  North  Carolina;  in 
1861  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania  were  poles  apart,  while  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina  were  in  perfect  accord.  In  1830  South 
Carolina,  the  center  of  Southern  nationalism,  stood  alone  in  her 
contest  with  the  Federal  Government;15  in  1860  she  had  the 
South  behind  her.  In  this  interval  the  principle  of  "national- 
ism" had  come  into  full  play,  dividing  the  American  Union  into 
two  countries  with  few  things  in  common.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  Civil  War  the  United  States  was  neither  a  confederacy  nor 
a  nation  but  a  dual  republic,  in  fact,  politically  organized  as  a 
number  of  separate  States  under  one  general  government. 
This  essential  duality  of  the  Union  was  apparent  to  Calhoun, 
who,  in  his  effort  to  remedy  what  he  felt  was  a  false  position 
without  recourse  to  disunion,  advocated  the  creation  of  a  double 
executive,  with  one  president  for  the  North  and  another  for  the 
South.  The  antagonism  of  the  two  communities  centered  largely 
around  slavery,  which  had  been  indeed  a  potent  factor  in  widen- 
ing the  divergence.  The  South  as  the  weaker  and  more  conser- 
vative country  was  naturally  on  the  defensive  in  the  struggle 
preceding  the  Civil  War;  the  North,  as  the  larger  and  modern 
community,  tended  towards  the  aggressive,  for  the  spirit  of 
modernness  is  perhaps  not  much  more  tolerant  of  difference  than 
that  of  medievalism .  The  contest  between  North  and  South 
became  serious  when  private  warfare  broke  out  on  the  border 
and  still  more  serious  when,  without  provocation,  an  armed 
attack  was  made  on  Virginia  in  1859  with  the  sympathy  of  a 

15The  nullification  controversy,  beginning  in  1828  and  ending  early  in  1833, 
is  treated  fully  in  the  standard  text  books  of  American  history.  A  very 
accurate  though  brief  sketch  is  to  be  found  in  Woodrow  Wilson's  Division 
and  Reunion.  For  a  more  extended  study  see  Wm.  MacDonald's  Jacksonian 
Democracy. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  19 


large  part  of  the  Northern  public.  Under  these  circumstances 
of  growing  irritation  and  threat  of  war  in  a  nominal  state  of 
peace,  it  was  evident  that  separation  must  take  place  or  the 
weaker  South  make  such  concessions  as  would  produce  a  modus 
vivendi.  The  South,  being  in  no  humor  for  concessions  of  un- 
known significance,  naturally  used  the  principle  of  State  sover- 
eignty16 as  the  means  for  legally,  and,  it  was  hoped,  peaceably 
accomplishing  the  end.  Secession  sprang  from  this  conviction 
of  incompatibility;  it  was  the  attempt  to  cut  the  knot  of  a  hope- 
less tangle.  The  struggle  was  one  of  social  forces,  of  sharply 
contrasted  ideals,  of  industrial  radicalism  with  agrarian  conser- 
vatism, of  the  factory  with  the  plantation;  in  the  whirl  of  con- 
tending ideas  can  it  be  said  that  individuals  are  anything  but  the 
pawns  of  fate? 

The  majority  of  Virginians,  deeply  loyal  to  the  Union  that  had 
been  largely  the  work  of  their  fellow-citizens,  did  not  sympathize 
with  secession  at  first  and  looked  to  find  another  way  out  of  the 
dilemma.  A  convention  was  called  to  consider  what  action  the 
State  would  take  in  such  an  unprecedented  crisis,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  an  earnest  effort  was  made  to  arrange  some  basis 
of  understanding  between  North  and  South  in  the  hope  of 
averting  the  impending  conflict.  This  attempt,  honorable  to 
Virginia,  had  no  chance  of  success  from  the  first,  and  the  State 
seriously  compromised  the  future  of  the  Confederacy  by  failing 
to  secede  until  the  very  beginning  of  hostilities.  Then,  when  the 
alternative  was  offered  Virginia  of  assisting  the  North  to  con- 
quer the  nationality  of  which  her  own  economic  and  social  struc- 
ture made  her  a  part,  as  was  inevitable  she  took  her  stand  with 
the  South.  Her  action  was  the  one  thing  needed  to  make  seces- 
sion a  truly  national  movement. 

l6It.has  been  asserted  that  the  right  of  secession  was  taught  at  West  Point 
by  a  text-book  used  there:  Rawle's  A  View  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  of  America.  This  work,  which  undoubtedly  leans  towards  State  sov- 
ereignty, was  used  as  a  text-book  at  West  Point,  but  apparently  not  for  long. 
See  James  W.  Latta's  Was  Secession  Taught  at  West  Point?  and  the  Century 
Magazine,  78;  629. 


20  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


"WHAT  CONSTITUTES  A  STATE?" 

What  constitutes  a  state? 
Not  high-raisd  battlement,  or  labored  mound, 

Thick  wall  or  moated  gate; 
Not  cities  proud  with  spires  and  turrets  crowned; 

Not  bays  and  broad  arm'd  ports, 
Where,  laughing  at  the  storm,  rich  navies  ride; 

Not  starred  and  spangVd  courts, 
Where  low-brow' d  baseness  wafts  perfume  to  pride. 

No, — men,  high-minded  men, 
With  powers  as  far  above  dull  brutes  endued 

In  forest,  brake  or  den, 
As  beasts  excel  cold  rocks  and  brambles  rude — 

Men  who  their  duties  know, 
But  know  their  rights,  and,  knowing,  dare  maintain, 

Prevent  the  long-aim  d  blow, 
And  crush  the  tyrant  while  they  rend  the  chain; 

These  constitute  a  state; 
And  sovereign  law,  that  state's  collected  will, 

O'er  thrones  and  globes  elate 
Sits  empress,  crowning  good,  repressing  ill. 

Smit  by  her  sacred  frown, 
The  fiend  Discretion  like  a  vapor  sinks; 

And  e'en  the  all-dazzling  crown 
Hides  his  faint  rays,  and  at  her  bidding  shrinks; 

Such  was  this  heaven-lovd  isle, 
Than  Lesbos  fairer  and  the  Cretan  shore ! 

No  more  shall  freedom  smile? 
Shall  Britons  languish,  and  be  men  no  more? 

Since  all  must  life  resign, 
Those  sweet  rewards  which  decorate  the  brave 

'Tis  folly  to  decline, 
And  steal  inglorious  to  the  silent  grave. 

Sir  William  Jones,  in  imitation  of  Alcaeus. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  21 


THE  MAINTENANCE  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF 
SECESSION. 

H.  R.  McIlwaine 

As  pointed  out  in  the  first  article,  the  doctrine  of  secession  rests  not  only 
upon  a  clear  and  indisputable  construction  of  the  plain  terms  of  the  Con- 
stitution but  upon  a  long  series  of  often-reiterated  and  widely  admitted  public 
declarations.  Manifestly  the  latter  are  well-nigh  as  important  as  the  former. 
Had  the  doctrine  of  State  Rights,  as  enunciated  by  the  South  in  1861,  been  a 
forgotten  political  principle  laid  aside  in  the  progress  of  years,  it  could  not 
have  stood  as  a  justification  of  war.  When,  however,  that  principle  was 
maintained  during  the  whole  history  of  the  country  prior  to  1861  by  many 
men  and  many  States,  it  became  incarnate  and  vital.  The  following  docu- 
ments have  been  selected  as  illustrative  of  a  constant  adherence  to  the  funda- 
mental doctrine  outlined  in  the  previous  section.  These  documents  are  given 
an  added  value  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  first  is  dated  1788  and  the 
last  1861,  and  that  they  come  from  Whig  and  from  Democrat,  from  State  and 
from  party,  from  American  and  from  foreigner. 


The  First  Interpretation  of  the  Constitution. 

"In  order  to  ascertain  the  real  character  of  the  Government, 
it  may  be  considered  in  relation  to  the  foundation  on  which  it 
is  to  be  established.  *  *  * 

On  examining  the  first  relation,  it  appears,  on  one  hand,  that 
the  Constitution  is  to  be  founded  on  the  assent  and  ratification 
of  the  people  of  America,  given  by  deputies  elected  for  the 
special  purpose;  but  on  the  other,  that  this  assent  and  ratifica- 
tion is  to  be  given  by  the  people,  not  as  individuals  composing 
one  entire  Nation,  but  as  composing  the  distinct  and  independent 
States  to  which  they  respectively  belong.  It  is  to  be  the  assent 
and  ratification  of  the  several  States,  derived  from  the  supreme 
authority  in  the  State — the  authority  of  the  people  themselves. 
The  act,  therefore,  establishing  the  Constitution,  will  not  be  a 
National,  but  a  Foederal  act." 

The  Foederalist  (University  Edition.  New  York,  1888),  pp. 
261,  262. 

16^The  Federalist  is  one  of  the  most  important  of  all  publications  giving  a 
contemporary  view  of  the  real  meaning  of  the  Constitution.  When  the  Con- 
stitution was  referred  by  Congress  to  the  States,  three  young  men,  believing 
that  it  needed  explanation,  decided  to  write  a  series  of  newspaper  articles, 
in  which  they  should  give  in  detail  what  they  regarded  as  the  proper  inter- 
pretation of  the  Constitution.  These  men  were  Alexander  Hamilton,  James 
Madison  and  John  Jay,  and  in  October,  1787,  they  published  the  first  of 
eighty-five  essays  on  the  Constitution.  These  were  signed  at  first  "A  Citi- 
zen of  New  York,"  and  later  "Publius,"  and  attracted  widespread  attention. 


22 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


The  Original  Draft  of  the  Kentucky  Resolutions.1? 

"Resolved,  That  the  several  States  composing  the  United 
States  of  America,  are  not  united  on  the  principle  of  unlimited 
submission  to  their  general  government,  but  that,  by  a  compact 
under  the  style  and  title  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
and  of  amendments  thereto,  they  constitute  a  general  govern- 
ment for  special  purposes;  and  that  whensoever  the  general 
government  assumes  undelegated  powers  its  acts  are  unauthori- 
tative, void,  and  of  no  force,  that  to  this  compact  each  State 
acceded  as  a  State,  and  is  an  integral  party,  its  co-States  forming, 
as  to  itself,  the  other  party;  that  the  Government  created  by  this 
compact  was  not  made  the  exclusive  or  final  judge  of  the  extent  of 
the  powers  delegated  to  itself;  since  that  would  have  made  its  dis- 
cretion, not  the  Constitution,  the  measure  of  its  powers:  but  that, 

AS  IN  ALL  CASES  OF  COMPACT  AMONG  POWERS  HAVING  NO  COMMON 
JUDGE,  EACH  PARTY  HAS  AN  EQUAL  RIGHT  TO  JUDGE  FOR  ITSELF, 
AS  WELL  OF  INFRACTIONS  AS  OF  THE  MODE  AND  MEASURE  OF 

redress."    Jefferson's  Works,  v.  vii,  pp.  289-90. 

The  Resolutions  of  the  Hartford  Convention.18 

"That  acts  of  Congress  in  violation  of  the  Constitution  are 
absolutely  void,  is  an  undeniable  position.  It  does  not,  however, 
consist  with  the  respect  from  a  Confederate  State  towards 

17  Aside  from  debates  in  Congress  and  the  resolutions  of  some  of  the  States 
adopting  the  Constitution,  the  next  statement  of  the  doctrine  of  secession 
is  contained  in  the  "Kentucky  Resolutions."  These  resolut  ons  have  an 
interesting  history.  When  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts  were  passed  by  a 
Federalist  Congress,  to  bolster  the  declining  political  fortunes  of  John  Adams, 
Thomas  Jefferson  felt  that  the  Southern  States  should  express  their  views 
on  this  invasion  of  their  rights.  Accordingly,  he  proposed  a  series  of 
resolutions  which  he  apparently  committed  to  George  Nicholas,  a  friend 
then  en  route  to  Kentucky.  The  resolutions  were  passed  by  the  Kentucky 
Legislature  and  approved  by  the  Governor  on  December  24,  1799.  Reso- 
lutions of  a  somewhat  similar  purport  were  passed  by  the  Virginia  Assembly, 
though  their  tone  was  more  moderate.  The  "Virginia-Kentucky"  resolu- 
tions were  regarded  for  a  half-century  as  the  corner-stone  of  States  Rights. 
The  text  cited  here  is  from  Jefferson's  original  draft,  with  italics  and  capitals 
added  by  the  editor. 

18  See  the  article  above,  The  Right  of  Secession. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


23 


the  General  Government,  to  fly  to  open  resistance  upon  every 
infraction  of  the  Constitution.  The  mode  and  the  energy  of  the 
opposition  should  always  conform  to  the  nature  of  the  violation, 
the  intention  of  the  authors,  the  extent  of  the  evil  inflicted,  the 
determination  manifested  to  persist  in  it,  and  the  danger  of 
delay.  But  in  cases  of  deliberate,  dangerous,  and  palpable 
infractions  of  the  Constitutions,  affecting  the  sovereignty 
of  the  State,  and  liberties  of  the  people;  it  is  not  only  the 

RIGHT,  BUT  THE  DUTY,  OF  SUCH  STATE  TO  INTERPOSE  ITS  AUTHOR- 
ITY FOR  THEIR  PROTECTION,  IN  THE  MANNER  BEST  CALCULATED 

to  secure  that  end.  When  emergencies  occur  which  are 
either  beyond  the  reach  of  judicial  tribunals,  or  too  pressing  to 
admit  of  delay  incident  to  their  forms,  States  which  have  no 

COMMON  UMPIRE,  MUST  BE  THEIR  OWN   JUDGES,  AND  EXECUTE 

their  own  decisions."  Dwight:  History  of  the  Hartford 
Convention,  p.  355. 


State  Sovereignty  As  Seen  By  a  Foreigner.1? 

"However  strong  a  government  may  be,  it  cannot  easily 
escape  from  the  consequences  of  a  principle  which  it  has  once 
submitted  as  the  foundation  of  its  constitution.  The  Union  was 
formed  by  the  voluntary  agreement  of  the  States; and  in  uniting 
together  they  have  never  forfeited  their  nationality  nor  have  they 
been  reduced  to  the  condition  of  one  and  the  same  people.  If 
one  of  the  States  chose  to  withdraw  its  name  from  the  contract, 
it  would  be  difficult  to  disprove  its  right  of  doing  so;  and  the 
Federal  Government  would  have  no  msans  of  maintaining  its 
claims  directly,  either  by  force  or  by  right."  Alexis  de  Toc- 
queville:  Democracy  in  America,  v.  2,  p.  257. 

19  It  often  happens  that  a  foreigner  of  culture  and  education  is  able  to  gmn 
a  keener  insight  into  institutions  than  a  man  accustomed  to  them  from  his 
youth.  Such  was  the  case  with  Ale&is  de  Tocqueville  (1805-1859),  the  dis- 
tinguished French  statesman  and  scholar,  who  visited  America  in  1831-32. 
His  observations,  published  in  1835  under  the  title  Democra  y  in  America, 
may  properly  be  called  the  first  comprehensive  study  of  American  institu- 
tions. He,  it  will  be  observed,  accepted  without  question  the  fact  that  the 
American  States  had  "never  forfeited  their  nat  onality"  and  could  not  be 
deterred  from  secession  if  they  desired  to  leave  the  Union. 


24  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


Another  Foreign  View  of  American  States. 

"There  is  not,  as  with  us,  a  government  only,  and  its  subjects 
to  be  regarded;  but  a  number  of  governments,  of  States,  having 
each  a  separate,  and  substantive,  and  even  independent  existence, 
originally  thirteen,  now  six  and  twenty,  and  each  having  a  Legis- 
lature of  its  own  with  laws  differing  from  those  of  the  other 
States.  It  is  plainly  impossible  to  consider  the  constitution 
which  professes  to  govern  this  whole  Union,  this  federacy  of 
States,  as  anything  other  than  a  treaty."  Lord  Brougham20: 
Political  Philosophy  (1849),  Part  III,  p.  336. 

Lincoln's  View  of  Secession. 

"Any  people  anywhere  being  inclined,  and  having  the  power, 
have  the  right  to  rise  up  and  shake  off  the  existing  government, 
and  form  a  new  one  that  suits  them  better.  This  is  a  most  val- 
uable, most  sacred  right,  a  right  which  we  hope  and  believe  is 
to  liberate  the  world.  Nor  is  this  right  confined  to  cases  in 
which  the  whole  people  of  an  existing  government  may  choose 
to  exercise  it.  Any-  portion  of  such  people  that  can,  may  rev- 
olutionize and  make  their  own  any  or  so  much  of  the  territory 
as  they  inhabit.21  Abraham  Lincoln:  Speeches  and  Letters 
and  State  Papers,  Vol.  1,  p.  105. 

Horace  Greeley  on  Secession.22 

"If  it  [the  Declaration  of  Independence]  justified  the  secession 
from  the  British  Empire  of  three  millions  of  colonists  in  1776,  we 

20  Henry  Lord  Brougham  (1778-1868)  was  one  of  the  most  astute  political 
theorists  and  one  of  the  ablest  practical  statesmen  of  his  generation.  His 
views  of  American  politics  are  typical  of  those  held  by  the  educated  class 
generally  in  foreign  countries. 

21  This  view  of  the  right  of  secession  was  a  favorite  one  among  those  who 
were  forced  by  the  plain  facts  of  history  and  the  obvious  meaning  of  the  Con- 
stitution to  admit  the  right  of  secession  but  who  refused  to  accept  the  argu- 
ments advanced  by  Southern  statesmen.  The  stock  argument  of  those  men 
was,  in  a  word,  that  the  right  of  secession  was  the  right  of  revolution  and  that 
conditions  which  justified  revolution  alone  justified  secession. 

22  The  views  of  Horace  Greeley  are  of  prime  importance,  coming  as  they  do 
from  the  man  who  fought  the  South  vigorously  and  vehemently.  Horace 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  25 


do  not  see  why  it  would  not  justify  the  secession  of  five  millions 
of  Southerners  from  the  Federal  Union  in  1861.  If  we  are  mis- 
taken on  this  point  why  does  not  some  one  attempt  to  show 
wherein  and  why."  Curtis:  Life  of  James  Buchanan,  Vol.  II,  p. 
430. 

"We  have  repeatedly  said,  and  we  once  more  insist,  that  the  great 
principle  embodied  by  Jefferson  in  the  Declaration  of  American 
Independence,  that  Governments  derive  their  just  power  from 
the  consent  of  the  governed,  is  sound  and  just;  and  that  if  the 
slave  States,  the  cotton  States,  or  the  gulf  States  only, 
choose  to  form  an  independent  nation  they  have  a  clear 
moral  right  to  do  so.  whenever  it  shall  be  clear  that 
the  great  body  of  southern  people  have  become  conclu- 
sively alienated  from  the  union,  and  anxious  to  escape 
from  it,  we  will  do  our  best  to  forward  their  views." 
The  Tribune,  February  23,  1861. 

Greeley  (1811-1872),  after  a  youth  of  poverty  and  struggle,  entered  journalism 
and,  in  1841,  established  the  New  York  Daily  Tribune.  Through  this  paper 
he  acquired  great  reputation  and  influence  and  came  in  time  to  rank  as  the 
leader  of  one  branch  of  abolitionists.  His  hostility  to  the  South  and  his 
determination  to  push  the  war  to  the  end  earned  for  him  the  hatred  of  the 
conquered  country.  For  this  he  atoned  in  large  measure  during  Reconstruc- 
tion by  his  generous  advocacy  of  amnesty  and  reconciliation. 


JOHN  LETCHER. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  27 


GOVERNMENT  OF  VIRGINIA  IN  1861. 

Douglas  S.  Freeman. 

Tohn  Letcher,  of  Rockbridge,  Governor23. 

Robert  L.  Montague,24  of  Middlesex,  Lieutenant-Governor. 

Supreme  Court. 

William  Daniel,  of  Lynchburg. 
R.  C.  L.  Moncure,  of  Stafford. 
Wm.  Robertson,  of  Albemarle. 
John  J.  Allen,  of  Botetourt.  2s. 
George  H.  Lee,  of  Harrison. 

23John  Letcher,  the  first  of  Virginia's  two  war  governors,  was  an  unusual 
and  interesting  figure.  Born  in  Lexington,  March  29,  1813,  he  was  forced 
to  earn  a  livelihood  while  still  a  boy  and  served  for  some  years  as  a  tailor. 
He  was  extremely  ambitious,  however,  and  by  hard  study  and  economy  was 
able  to  enter  Washington  College  in  1834.  In  a  few  years  he  began  the 
practice  of  law  and  soon  became  editor  of  the  Valley  Star.  Drifting  into 
politics,  he  rose  rapidly  as  a  staunch  Democrat  and  was  elected  to  Congress 
in  1851.  For  eight  years  he  remained  in  the  House  and  earned  for  himself 
the  title  "Honest  John."  In  1859  he  was  nominated  on  the  Democratic 
ticket  for  governor  over  H.  A.  Edmondson  and  defeated  the  Whig  nominee, 
Wm.  L.  Goggin,  in  a  heated  campaign.  He  took  his  seat  January  1,  1860, 
and  served  his  full  term  of  four  years,  giving  place  to  Wm.  Smith.  Letcher 
was  a  bluff,  florid  man  of  much  determination  and  positiveness.  Like  many 
men  of  his  party,  he  bewailed  the  approach  of  secession,  but  as  a  staunch 
State-Rights'  advocate,  he  was  quick  to  defend  the  honor  of  the  State  when 
assailed.  He  died  at  Lexington,  January  26,  1884,  having  suffered  a  stroke 
of  paralysis  nine  years  before. 

24Robert  L.  Montague  (1819-1880)  was  for  many  years  a  prominent  figure 
in  the  politics  of  the  State,  serving  as  member  of  the  General  Assembly,  as 
presidential  elector,  as  Lieutenant-governor  and  as  a  member  of  the  Secession 
Convention.  He  sat  in  the  Confederate  Congress  fron  1863  to  the  end  of 
the  war. 

25While  all  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  1861  were  men  of  excep- 
tional ability,  Judge  Allen  deserves  especial  mention.  Prominent  in  public 
life  for  many  years,  he  served  in  Congress  (1833-35)  prior  to  his  promotion 
to  the  Supreme  Court.  At  the  outbreak  of  hostilities,  he  presented  the 
famous  "Botetourt  Resolutions"  to  a  meeting  in  that  county.  These  resolu- 
tions, giving  as  they  do  a  detailed  explanation  of  the  causes  of  the  War,  may 
properly  be  termed  the  Virginia  Declaration  of  Southern  Independence. 
They  are  given  at  length  in  Mary  Johnston's  novel  The  Long  Roll. 


28  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


United  States  Senators. 
R.  M.  T.  Hunter26  and  James  M.  Masons. 

Members  of  the  United  States  House  of  Representatives. 
M.  R.  H.  Garnett^. 

J.  S.  MlLLSON2*. 

D.  C.  Dejarnette3°. 

26Robert  Mercer  Taliaferro  Hunter  was  easily  one  of  the  few  reai  leaders 
of  Virginia  politics  during  the  period  before  and  during  the  war.  He  was 
born  in  Essex  County,  April  21,  1809,  and,  after  several  years  of  study  at 
the  University  of  Virginia,  attended  the  famous  Winchester  Law  School. 
He  entered  Congress  in  1833,  and  served,  with  a  single  defeat,  until  1846.  In 
that  year,  as  a  result  of  a  memorable  coup  d'etat,  he  was  named  United  States 
Senator.  This  place  he  held  until  the  secession  of  Virginia,  rising  to  a  place 
of  great  eminence  in  the  upper  house.  As  chairman  of  the  Finance  Com- 
mittee, he  fathered  most  of  the  important  financial  legislation  and  framed  the 
tariff  of  1857.  By  1860  he  had  reached  such  a  position  that  he  was  a  formid- 
able candidate  for  the  Presidency,  and,  indeed,  ran  second  to  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  at  the  Charleston  Convention  of  that  year.  When  Virginia  seceded 
he  threw  in  his  fortunes  with  her  and  was  one  of  the  State's  first  delegates 
to  the  Provisional  Congress,  serving  later  as  Secretary  of  State  and  as  Con- 
federate States  Senator.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  Senator  Hunter  was 
honored  with  arrest  for  treason,  but  was  never  tried  and  was  ultimately 
pardoned  by  President  Johnson.  He  lived  for  many  years  after  the  war, 
dying  July  18,  1887. 

27James  Murray  Mason,  another  famous  Virginian,  was  a  grandson  of 
George  Mason,  author  of  the  Virginia  Bill  of  Rights.  He  was  born  in  1798 
and,  after  a  careful  education,  entered  public  life.  He  served  in  Congress 
for  one  term  and,  in  1846,  was  elected  to  the  Senate  with  Hunter.  He  held 
this  place  until  the  outbreak  of  the  war  and  distinguished  himself  for  his 
staunch  advocacy  of  States  Rights.  Appointed  Confederate  Commissioner 
to  England  in  1861,  he  figured  with  John  Slidell  in  the  "Trent  Affair,"  which 
very  nearly  precipitated  war  between  England  and  the  North.  Upon  reach- 
ing England,  Mason  took  up  his  duties  and,  among  other  things,  published 
the  Index,  a  valuable  Southern  paper.  He  returned  to  America  after  the  war 
ended  and  died  in  Alexandria  in  1871. 

28A  native  of  Essex  County,  long  prominent  in  Virginia  politics  and  for 
four  years  a  member  of  Congress. 

9Born  at  Norfolk,  October  1,  1808.  He  never  served  in  public  office 
except  in  Congress.    Died  at  Norfolk,  February  26,  1874. 

•3°Daniel  Coleman  de  Jarnette  was  born  in  Caroline  in  1822,  was  a  suc- 
cessful planter,  served  for  many  years  in  the  General  Assembly  and  was  twice 
elected  to  Congress. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL  29 


Roger  A.  Pryor.31 
Thos.  S.  Bocock.32 
Shelton  F.  Leake. 33 
William  Smith.  ^ 
Alex.  R.  Boteler.35 
John  T.  Harris.36 
Steward  Clemens. 3 ? 
A.  G.  Jenkins. 38 

31Pryor  was  in  some  respects  the  most  interesting  of  Virginia's  Congress- 
men, and  might  be  called  the  Hotspur  of  Virginia.  He  was  born  in  Dinwiddie 
County,  July  19,  1828,  and  after  graduating  from  Hampden-Sidney  College 
began  to  practice  law,  only  to  abandon  it  for  the  more  alluring  field  of  jour- 
nalism. As  editorial  writer  on  the  Washington  Union,  the  Richmond  Enquirer, 
the  South  and  the  W ashington  States,  successively,  he  achieved  celebrity  as  a 
fiery  exponent  of  State  Rights.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  he  went  to 
Charleston  and  figured  in  the  attack  on  Sumter.  During  the  war  he  served 
as  Confederate  Brigadier  and  as  member  of  Congress.    He  is  still  alive  (1912). 

32 Thomas  S.  Bocock  was  born  in  Buckingham  County  in  1815.  He  was  a 
graduate  of  Hampden-Sidney,  a  successful  lawyer,  a  member  of  the  Virginia 
General  Assembly  and  served  in  Congress  from  1847  to  1861.  He  was  later 
elected  to  the  Confederate  Congress,  where  his  pleasing  personality  and 
ability  won  for  him  the  place  of  Speaker. 

33Leake  was  an  "old-line"  Democrat.  Born  in  Albemarle,  November  30, 
1812,  he  taught  school  before  he  entered  politics.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Delegates  in  1844,  representative  in  Congress,  1845-47,  1859-61, 
and  was  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Virginia  in  1851-55.  He  was  a  candidate 
for  the  Democratic  nomination  in  1855  but  was  defeated  by  Henry  A.  Wise. 

34 William  Smith,  popularly  known  as  "Extra  Billy,"  held  practically  every 
office  in  the  gift  of  the  people  of  Virginia.  He  was  member  of  the  General 
Assembly,  Governor,  Congressman,  Brigadier  General,  Major  General,  and 
again  Governor.  Born  in  1797,  he  was  for  thirty  years  a  leading  figure  in 
the  State.    There  is  a  statue  of  him  in  the  Capitol  Square  at  Richmond,  Va. 

35Boteler  was  a  native  of  Jefferson  County  and  was  born  May  16,  1815. 
He  was  graduated  from  Princeton  and  became  a  Whig,  serving  in  Congress,. 
1859-61.  He  was  later  a  member  of  the  Confederate  Congress  and  served 
as  a  staff  officer. 

36Harris  was  a  native  of  Albemarle  (born  1823),  practiced  law  and  served 
for  many  years  in  Congress. 

370wens  was  for  a  long  time  joint  leader  with  Geo.  W.  Summers  of  the 
Western  Virginia  element  in  State  politics.  Born  April  28,  1826,  he  was  a 
lawyer  and  long  a  member  of  Congress.    He  fought  secession  very  bitterly. 

38Albert  G.  Jenkins  was  a  native  of  Cabell  County  and  was  born  Novem- 
ber 10,  1830.  Graduated  from  Jefferson  College,  he  studied  law,  but  farmed 
instead  of  following  his  profession.  A  staunch  Democrat  and  a  man  of  splen- 
did ability,  he  served  four  years  in  Congress  and  resigned  to  throw  in  his  fort- 


30 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


H.  A.  Edmondson.39 
E.  S.  Martin. 4° 


une  with  his  native  State.  He  was  killed,  while  ranking  as  Brigadier  Gen- 
eral, at  the  battle  of  Cloyd's  Mountain,  Va. 

39£dmondson  was  long  a  power  to  be  reckoned  with  in  Virginia  politics 
and  served  in  Congress  from  1849  to  1861.  He  was  an  unsuccessful  candi- 
date for  the  Democratic  gubernatorial  nomination  in  1859. 

40Martin  served  only  one  term  in  Congress. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  31 

SLAVERY  IN  VIRGINIA  IN  1861. 
Douglas  S.  Freeman. 

Slavery  had  come  into  Virginia  against  the  wishes  of  the  Colonists,  who 
had  done  their  utmost  to  prevent  it  (Ballagh,  History  of  Slavery  in  Virginia, 
p.  11  ff.).  When  the  Constitution  was  adopted,  with  its  recognition  of  slavery, 
some  of  the  best  and  ablest  men  in  Virginia  opposed  that  instrument  and  the 
government  it  aimed  to  establish,  because  they  perpetuated  slavery  (Mun- 
ford,  The  Attitude  of  Virginia  Towards  Slavery  and  Secession,  p.  30 ff.)-  By 
1830,  Virginia  was  anxious  to  be  rid  of  slavery,  and  the  Convention  called 
in  1831  seriously  debated  the  abolition  of  slavery.  The  institution  had 
grown  to  such  an  extent,  however,  and  the  problem  of  the  free  negro  had 
become  so  serious,  that  men  hesitated  to  set  loose  upon  society  so  many 
thousands  of  half -civilized  blacks.  Just  at  this  time  came  the  Nat  Turner 
Insurrection — a  horrible  affair  which  brought  home  to  every  planter  the 
possibilities  of  negro  freedom  (Drewry,  Southampton  Insurrection).  Regret- 
fully, unwillingly,  Virginia  had  to  accept  slavery  as  it  existed.  This  was 
the  attitude  of  the  average  man  in  1861,  when  the  Northern  people  hurled  at 
Virginia  the  charge  that  she  wished  to  perpetuate  human  bondage.  This 
was  the  attitude  of  General  Lee,  who,  in  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  his 
father-in-law's  will,  manumitted  his  slaves,  as  did  thousands  of  other  Vir- 
ginians, who  aided  in  the  establishment  of  Liberia  and  in  the  exportation  of 
their  negroes.    (Munford,  op.  cit.) 

Population  of  Virginia  in  186041 


Total  Whites  1,047,-299 

Total  free  colored   58,042 ^ 

Total   slaves   490,865^ 

Total  Indians   112 


[U.  S.  Census,  1860;  Population,  p.  515]. 

41This  includes  the  population  of  the  present  State  of  West  Virginia.  In 
studying  the  population  and  extent  of  Virginia  on  the  eve  of  the  war,  it  is 
well  to  remember  that  the  State  stood  as  a  buffer  between  the  North  and 
South.  Stretching  from  the  Atlantic  to  Kentucky,  and  divided  from  the 
North  by  the  Ohio  and  the  Potomac,  Virginia  was  a  natural  boundary.  This 
was  one  of  the  reasons  why  her  action  was  watched  with  such  breathless 
interest  by  the  South:  upon  her  depended,  in  large  measure,  their  safety 
from  immediate  invasion. 

42This  large  free  population — the  largest  of  any  of  the  Southern  States — 
is  one  explanation  why  manumission  progressed  so  slowly  in  the  State.  The 
"free  negroes"  were  a  shiftless,  criminal  and  generally  undesirable  class,  whose 
base  propensities  were  a  constant  reminder  of  the  possibilities  of  general 
emancipation. 

43See  table  below  for  the  slave-owning  population,  of  Virginia, 


32  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL 


Slave  Owners  in  Virginia  in  1860. 


Number  holding  1  slave   11,085 

Number  holding  2  slaves   5,989 

Number  holding  3  slaves   4,474 

Number  holding  4  slaves   3,807 

Number  holding  5  slaves   3,233 

Number  holding  6  slaves   2,824 

Number  holding  7  slaves   2,393 

Number  holding  8  slaves   1,984 

Number  holding  9  slaves   1,788 

Number  holding  10  to  14  slaves   5,686 

Number  holding  14  to  19  slaves   3,088 

Number  holding  20  to  29  slaves   3,017 

Number  holding  30  to  39  slaves   1,291 

Number  holding  40  to  49  slaves   609 

Number  holding  50  to  69  slaves   503 

Number  holding  70  to  99  slaves   243 

Number  holding  100  to  199  slaves   105 

Number  holding  200  to  299  slaves   8 

Number  holding  300  to  499  slaves   1 

Number  holding  500  to  999  slaves   0 

Number  holding  more  than  1,000  slaves   0 

Total  number  of  slave-owners   52,128*4 

Total  number  of  slaves  490,865 


44  These  figures  should  be  kept  in  mind  in  connection  with  the  total  white 
population  of  Virginia.  It  was  a  constant  argument  in  the  days  of  secession 
and  it  is  a  standing  taunt  to-day  that  Virginia,  with  the  other  Southern  States, 
seceded  to  protect  slavery.  When  all  is  said  and  done,  Northern  writers 
declare  slavery  was  the  real  cause  of  the  war;  State  Rights  were  but  an  in- 
cident. This  table  of  itself  is  a  sufficient  refutation  of  this  charge.  With 
a  total" white  population  of  1,047,299  and  a  slave  owning  population  of  but 
52,158,  it  is  manifest  that  only  one  person  in  twenty  owned  slaves;  and  com- 
puting five  persons  to  one  white  adult — a  most  liberal  allowance — only  one 
Virginian  of  four  in  1860  was  directly  interested  in  the  perpetuation  of  slavery. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


VIRGINIA. 

Virginia!  Virginia!  the  home  of  the  free, 

The  birthplace  of  Washington,  the  land  of  Liberty, 

Your  soil  is  invaded  by  tyrants  and  knaves, 

Your  fields  once  so  brilliant  now  gloomy  with  graves. 

Virginia!  Virginia!  the  home  of  the  free, 
Three  cheers  for  Virginia  and  Liberty. 

Virginia!  Virginia!  the  battle's  begun, 

We've  met  the  Northern  Army,  the  victory  we  have  won, 
And  the  cry  of  our  leaders  ever  shall  be, 

On,  on  to  the  charge,  ye  brave  sons,  follow  me. 
Virginia!  Virginia!  the  home  of  the  free, 

Three  cheers  for  Virginia  and  Liberty. 

To  arms,  ye  brave  sires,  and  fly  to  the  field. 

Thy  aim  shall  be  victory  and  courage  be  thy  shield. 
Trust  in  your  God  for  'tis  He  who  rules  us  all, 

Bow  meekly  to  His  rod,  be  ready  for  His  call. 
Virginia!  Virginia!  the  home  of  the  free, 

Three  cheers  for  Virginia  and  Liberty. 


J. W, RANDOLPH,  /2l  Maf/7  Street,  /ffcfimond.  V*. 

/d'.W./fando/ph.  //as  a/so  pt/6/ts/ird „  Stonewall  Jackson's  Way  "for  Piano.  Price $/.  ooj 


Andante. 

4 


J   To     arms,  i/e     bmve    Sires      and    ftp     to     the-    fiedd  Thy  aim,  s/icill  be 


F/r 


ffitt-ia  f    far-  fut-r'a 


the      /wms    fff    the-  free 


fir-  yin-iel  ^    Vir-  yui-ia    the      bat-  -tbss   be  -  -fur/. 


The  birthplace  of 
Wf've  met  Hie       A  or- 


mm 


seenpre  legato. 


T  TT  ~f  ~r 

V/e-  to-ry  and  con  rape  be thy  sAw/d  Trust  in  if  our    (rod    for    'tis  Be    who  r/i/es  us 


Washington  the<  taudafuber-  --///,  Tour  soil  is  m  -  -vct-d  ed  by  by- -  rantr  and 
ilrern  ar/nulhe  r/et '  re/  we  hare  won.    dud  th&  cry       of     our    leaders    ev —  er  shod 


t) 

33 

■ 

s 

=g  i 

1 — ' 

p 


36 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


THE  JOHN  BROWN  RAID. 
Douglas  S.  Freeman. 

The  Southern  view  of  the  American  Union  was  bit  erly  assailed  during  the 
ten  years  preceding  the  War  Between  the  States.  Sincere  advocates  of  a 
government  of  a  people  rather  than  of  States  joined  hands  with  the  enemies 
of  the  South  in  the  formation  of  the  Republican  party.  This  party  began  a 
country-wide  campaign  for  the  purpose  of  abolishing  slavery,  or  at  least 
of  overthrowing  Southern  political  power.  Inspired  by  enthusiasts  like 
William  Lloyd  Garrison  and  by  the  over-drawn  and  unfair  picture  of  slave 
life  presented  by  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  the  Republican  party  attempted 
to  elect  a  President  in  1856.  Their  nominee,  General  John  C.  Fremont,  was 
beaten  by  the  Democratic  nominee,  James  Buchanan,  but  they  gained  strength 
rapidly  and  threatened  the  overthrow  of  the  South.  Slavery  was  the  occa- 
sion, divergent  views  of  the  government  the  cause  of  the  struggle  which  was 
then  precipitated.  Some  of  the  abolitionists  composing  the  new  party  were 
sincere  opponents  of  slavery  and  sought  its  extinction  by  law.  Others  were 
willing  to  overthrow  the  Union,  to  violate  the  most  cherished  principles  of 
the  Constitution  and  to  wage  a  war  against  the  South  if  by  this  means  they 
might  destroy  slavery.  Gerrit  Smith,  of  New  York,  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  of 
Ohio,  and  John  Brown,  were  the  most  radical  of  the  abolitionists.  To  the 
last  named,  more  than  to  any  one  else,  was  due  the  intense  feeling  which  made 
the  Republicans  triumphant  in  1860.  Brown  was  a  man  of  humble  origin, 
devoted  heart  and  soul  to  the  anti-slavery  cause,  absolutely  conscienceless  in 
his  choice  of  means  to  accomplish  his  ends,  and,  it  seems  probable,  a  mono- 
maniac of  the  dangerous  type.  In  1859,  supported  by  Gerrit  Smith  and 
probably  by  Giddings,  he  determined  to  begin  an  armed  invasion  of  the  South. 
That  his  supporters  in  the  North  kn  w  his  general  purpose  and  approved 
it  is  beyond  question;  that  they  sanctioned  his  raid  on  Harper's  Ferry  is 
more  doubtful.  In  his  residence  in  Kansas,  where  he  had  been  little  better 
than  a  murderer,  Brown  gathered  about  him  a  number  of  kindred  spirits  as 
zealous  as  he  in  their  opposition  to  slavery.  With  these  men  he  came  East 
in  1859  and,  accumulating  a  considerable  store  of  arms  and  ammunition, 
rented  a  farm  in  Maryland  not  far  from  Harper's  Ferry.  On  October  17, 
1859,  moving  across  the  river,  he  began  the  raid  which  has  made  his  name 
infamous  in  the  South  and  famous  in  the  North.  The  details  of  the  raid  are 
familiar  and  are  given  in  all  the  text-books.  The  raid  itself  was  soon  crushed 
and  might  have  been  forgotten,  but  for  three  things: — the  evidence  of  wide- 
spread support  which  was  promised  him  by  honorable  people  in  the  North, 
the  extent  of  his  plans,  and  the  sympathy  which  was  shown  him  at  the  time 
of  his  arrest  and  execution.  The  document  which  follows  indicates,  in  a 
measure,  the  support  he  received.  In  his  trunk  were  found  even  more  convinc- 
ing proofs  of  his  plan  to  begin  a  campaign  against  the  South  which  should  reach 
into  every  slave-holding  State.  For  example,  a  map  of  the  Southern  States 
was  discovered  among  his  belongings  having  a  number  of  localities  carefully 
marked  with  a  pencil.     In  each  of  the  districts  so  marked  a  census-table, 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


37 


attached  to  the  map,  showed  a  predominance  of  negroes  over  whites.  The 
South  could  but  conclude  that  Brown  meant  to  stir  up  insurrection  in  these 
places,  to  free  the  negroes  and,  if  need  be,  to  massacre  the  whites.  Last  of 
all,  when  Brown  was  in  jail  and,  more  particularly,  when  he  was  executed,  a 
wave  of  unconcealed  sympathy  swept  the  North;  he  was  held  up  as  a  martyr, 
the  day  of  his  death  was  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer;  and,  in  Boston,  one 
fanatical  preacher  declared  that  the  crime  of  Pontius  Pilate  in  crucifying 
Jesus  Christ  whitened  into  virtue  compared  with  the  crime  of  Governor 
Wise  in  hanging  John  Brown.  To  the  South  Brown  represented  all  that  was 
evil.  He  was  a  man  who  had  deliberately  come  among  the  Southern  people 
to  inflame  the  negroes  to  insurrection  and,  if  need  be,  to  massacre  women 
and  children  in  doing  so.  When,  therefore,  he  was  lauded  as  a  martyr  and 
saint,  the  South  could  but  conclude  that  the  North  approved  of  private 
warfare  against  the  institution  of  slavery.  A  detailed  account  of  the  raid, 
written  from  the  Northern  standpoint  but  in  a  spirit  of  fair-mindedness  and 
after  a  most  exhaustive  and  scientific  study  of  the  sources,  is  given  in  O.  G. 
Villard's  John  Brown  (N.  Y.  1910).  No  full  account  of  Brown  from  the 
Southern  standpoint  has  been  written. 

Brown's  Purpose  as  Disclosed  by  His  Own  Testimony. 

Senator  Mason1:  Can  you  tell  us  who  furnished  money  for 
your  expedition? 

John  Brown:  I  furnished  most  of  it  myself;  I  cannot  implicate 
others2.  It  is  by  my  own  folly  that  I  have  been  taken.  I 
could  easily  have  saved  myself  from  it,  had  I  exercised  my  own 
better  judgment  rather  than  yielded  to  my  feelings. 

Mason:  If  you  would  tell  us  who  sent  you  here — who  provided 
the  means — that  would  be  information  of  some  value. 

Brown:  I  will  answer  freely  and  faithfully  what  concerns 
myself.  I  will  answer  anything  I  can  with  honor — but  not 
about  others. 

Mr.  Vallandigham  3  (who  had  just  entered):  Mr.  Brown,  who 
sent  you  here? 

Senator  James  M.  Mason,  of  Virginia.  Mr.  Mason  was  chairman  of  a 
special  committee  appointed  by  the  United  States  Senate  to  investigate  the 
raid,  and  he  came  to  Harper's  Ferry  for  that  purpose.  This  conversation  is 
one  of  a  number  recorded  by  the  newspaper  men  of  the  time. 

2Gerrit  Smith  had  furnished  him  $100.00  shortly  before  he  came  to  the 
neighborhood  of  Harper's  Ferry. 

3C.  L.  Vallandigham,  of  Ohio,  a  prominent  lawyer  and  member  of  Con- 
gress of  Southern  sympathies. 


38  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


Brown:  No  man  sent  me  here;  it  was  my  own  prompting  and 
that  of  my  Maker,  or  that  of  the  Devil — whichever  you  are 
pleased  to  ascribe  it  to.  I  acknowledge  no  master  in  human 
form. 

Vallandigham:  Did  you  get  up  the  expedition  yourself? 
Brown:  I  did. 

Vallandigham:  Did  you  get  up  this  document  that  is  called  a 
Constitution?4 

Brown:  I  did.  They  are  a  constitution  and  ordinances  of  my 
own  contriving  and  getting  up. 

.  Vallandigham:  How  long  have  you  been  engaged  in  this 
business? 

Brown:  From  the  breaking  out  of  the  difficulties  in  Kansas. 5 
Four  of  my  sons  had  gone  there  to  settle,  and  they  induced  me 
to  go.    I  did  not  go  there  to  settle  but  because  of  the  difficulties. 

Mason:  How  many  are  there  engaged  with  you  in  this  busi- 
ness? 

Brown:  Any  questions  that  I  can  honorably  answer  I  will — 
not  otherwise.    So  far  as  I  am  myself  concerned,  I  have  told 
everything  truthfully.    I  value  my  word,  sir. 
,   Mason:  What  was  your  object  in  coming? 

Brown:  We  came  to  free  the  slaves  and  only  that. 

A  Volunteer:  How  many  men  in  all  had  you? 

Brown:  I  came  to  Virginia  with  eighteen  men  only,  besides 
myself. 

Volunteer:  What  in  the  world  did  you  suppose  you  could  do 
here  in  Virginia  with  that  amount  of  men? 

Brown:  Young  man,  I  do  not  wish  to  discuss  that  question 
here. 

Volunteer:  You  could  not  do  anything. 

4The  "Provisional  Constitution  and  Ordinances  for  the  People  of  the 
United  States."  This  curious  document  was  drafted  by  the  so-called  Chatham 
Convention,  a  gathering  of  refugees  from  Kansas  which  assembled  at  Brown's 
call  in  Chatham,  Canada,  in  May,  1858.  Brown  stated  at  the  time  of  his 
arrest,  with  amazing  simplicity,  that  the  constitution  drawn  up,  for  a 
separate  government,  was  not  intended  to  ovei  throw  the  Const  tution  of 
the  United  States.  Indeed,  a  clause  in  the  constitution  so  provided.  By 
this  constitution,  Brown  and  his  government  proposed  to  be  guided  in  their 
future  attacks  on  the  South. 

5Perhaps  the  fairest  account  of  the  Kansas  question  can  be  found  in  James 
Ford  Rhodes'  History  of  the  United  States  since  the  Compromise  of  1850. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  ,  39 


Brown:  Well  perhaps  your  ideas  and  mine  on  military  sub- 
jects would  differ  materially.6 

Mason:  How  do  you  justify  your  acts? 

Brown:  I  think,  my  friend,  you  are  guilty  of  a  great  wrong 
against  God  and  humanity — I  say  it  without  wishing  to  be 
offensive — and  it  would  be  perfectly  right  for  anyone  to  interfere 
with  you  so  far  as  to  free  those  you  wilfully  and  wickedly  hold 
in  bondage.    I  do  not  say  this  insultingly. 

Mason:  I  understand  that. 

Brown:  I  think  I  did  right,  and  that  others  will  do  right  who 
interfere  with  you  at  any  times  and  at  all  times.  I  hold  that 
the  Golden  Rule,  "Do  unto  others  as  ye  would  that  others  do 
unto  you,"  applies  to  all  who  would  help  others  to  gain  their 
liberty. 

Vallandigham:  Will  you  answer  this:  Did  you  talk  with 
Giddings?  about  your  expedition  here? 

Brown:  No,  I  won't  answer  that;  because  a  denial  of  it  I 
would  not  make,  and  to  make  an  affirmation  of  it  I  should  be  a 
great  dunce. 

Vallandigham:  Have  you  had  any  correspondence  with  par- 
ties of  the  North  on  the  subject  of  this  movement? 
Brown:  I  have  had  correspondence. 

%       :jc       %  =H 

Vallandigham:  Who  are  your  advisers  in  this  movement? 
Brown:   I  can  not  answer  that.    I  have  numerous  sympa- 
thizers throughout  the  North. 
Vallandigham:  In  Northern  Ohio? 

Brown:  No  more  there  than  anywhere  else;  in  all  the  free 
States. 

6Brown  labored  under  the  idea  that  as  soon  as  he  raised  his  standard  of 
revolt  in  Virginia  the  slaves  would  flock  to  him  by  thousands.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  he  was  much  mistaken.  Only  those  slave?  joined  hm  who  were 
forced  to  do  so,  and  some  of  these  deserted  at  the  first  opportunity.  Like 
all  the  abolitionists,  Brown  overlooked  the  fact  that  the  slaves  were,  in  the 
main,  fairly  well  content  with  their  lot — a  fact  which  the  war  fully  proved. 

7The  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  referred  to  above.  Brown  did  confer  with  Gidd- 
ings,  but  it  has  never  been  proved  that  Giddings  was  fully  cognizant  of 
Brown's  designs. 


40  ,  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


Vallandigham:  But  you  are  not  personally  acquainted  in 
Southern  Ohio? 

Brown:  Not  very  much. 

Bystander:  Why  did  you  do  it  [move  against  Harper's  Ferry] 
secretly? 

Brown:  Because  I  thought  it  necessary  to  success;  no  other 
reason. 

Bystander:  The  New  York  Herald  of  yesterday  in  speaking  of 
this  affair,  mentions  a  letter  in  this  way: 

u  Apropos  of  this  exciting  news,  we  recollect  a  very  significant  passage 
in  one  of  Gerrit  Smith's  letters,  published  a  month  or  two  ago,  in  which 
he  speaks  of  the  folly  of  attempting  to  strike  the  shackles  off  the  slaves 
by  the  force  of  moral  suasion  or  legal  agitation,  and  predicts  that  the 
next  movement  made  in  the  direction  of  negro  emancipation  would  be 
an  insurrection  in  the  South."8 

Brown:  I  have  not  seen  the  New  York  Herald  for  some  days 
past;  but  I  presume  from  your  remark  about  the  gist  of  the  letter, 
that  I  should  concur  with  it.  I  agree  with  Mr.  Smith  that 
moral  suasion  is  hopeless.  I  don't  think  the  people  of  the  slave 
States  will  ever  consider  the  subject  of  slavery  in  its  true  light 
until  some  other  argument  is  resorted  to  than  moral  suasion. 

Vallandigham.  Did  you  expect  a  general  rising  of  the  slaves 
in  the  case  of  your  success? 

Brown:  No,  sir;  nor  did  I  wish  it.  I  expected  to  gather  them 
up  from  time  to  time  and  set  them  free.  9 

Vallandigham:  Did  you  see  anything  of  Joshua  R.  Giddings 
there? 

8 This  has  long  been  regarded  as  one  of  the  strongest  links  in  the  evidence 
against  Smith.  If  he  did  not  know  of  Brown's  plan  for  an  armed  invasion, 
it  was  singular,  to  say  the  least,  that  he  predicted,  so  near  the  event,  pre- 
cisely the  kind  of  movement  Brown  had  on  foot.  Additional  weight  was 
given  the  charges  against  Smith  by  the  fact  that  soon  after  Brown's  arrest 
and  his  implication  in  the  matter,  Smith's  mind  became  deranged. 

9Brown  here  told  the  truth  but  not  the  whole  truth.  His  plan  was 
obviously  to  collect  as  many  negroes  as  would  join  him — and  he  expected 
many  would — and  with  tLem  to  hasten  to  the  mountains  whence  he  could 
descend  to  carry  on  war  and  pillage. 


\ 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  41 


Brown:  I  did  meet  him. 

Vallandigham:  Did  you  converse  with  him? 

Brown:  I  did.  I  would  not  tell  you,  of  course,  anything  that 
would  implicate  Mr.  Giddings;  but  I  certainly  met  with  him  and 
had  conversations  with  him. 

Vallandigham:  About  that  rescue  case?10 

Brown:  Yes;  I  heard  him  express  his  opinions  upon  it  very 
freely  and  frankly. 

Vallandigham:  Justifying  it? 

Brown:  Yes,  sir;  I  do  not  compromise  him,  certainly,  in  saying 
that. 

Vallandigham:  What  time  did  you  commence  your  organiza- 
tion in  Canada?11 

Brown:  That  occurred  about  two  years  ago;  in  1858. 

Dr.  Biggs:  Were  you  in  the  party  at  Dr.  Kennedy's  house?  12 
Brown:  I  was  the  head  of  that  party.    I  occupied  the  house 

to  mature  my  plans.    I  have  not  been  in  Baltimore  to  purchase 

caps. 

Dr.  Biggs:  What  was  the  number  of  men  at  Kennedy's? 
Brown:  I  decline  to  answer  that. 

Q.  Where  did  you  get  arms? 

A.  I  bought  them. 

Q.  In  what  State? 

A.  That  I  will  not  state. 

Q.  How  many  guns? 

A.  Two  hundred  Sharpe's  rifles  and  two  hundred  revolvers — 
what  is  called  the  Massachusetts  Arms  Company's  revolvers, 
a  little  under  navy  size.13 

10 Apparently  a  case  in  which  a  fugitive  slave  was  taken  from  the  officers 
of  the  law  by  a  mob  and  was  spirited  away. 
uThe  Chatham  Convention,  referred  to  above. 

12 The  so-called  Kennedy  farm,  just  over  the  Maryland  line  from  Harper's 
Ferry. 

13The  arms  were  purchased  in  Connecticut  and  New  York.  In  addition, 
Brown  had  two  thousand  pikes  for  use  among  his  negro  recruits. 


42  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


Q.  Brown,  suppose  you  had  every  nigger  in  the  United  States, 
what  would  you  do  with  them? 
A.  Set  them  free. 

Q.  Your  intentions  were  to  carry  them  off  and  free  them? 
A.  Not  at  all. 

Bystander:  To  set  them  free  would  sacrifice  the  life  of  every 
man  in  this  community. 
Brown:  I  do  not  think  so. 

Bystander:  I  know  it.    I  think  you  are  fanatical. 
Brown:  And  I  think  you  are  fanatical.    "Whom  the  gods 
would  destroy  they  first  make  mad,"  and  you  are  mad. 
Q.  Was  it  your  only- object  to  free  the  negroes? 
A.  Absolutely  our  only  object, 

Q.  But  you  demanded  and  took  Colonel  Washington's  watch 
and  silver  ?m 

A.  Yes;  we  intended  freely  to  appropriate  the  property  of 
slaveholders  to  carry  out  our  object.  It  wTas  for  that  and  only 
that  and  with  no  designs  to  enrich  ourselves  with  any  plunder 
whatever. 


^Colonel  Lewis  W.  Washington,  great  grandson  of  George  Washington's 
only  brother.  Brown  and  his  party  invaded  Col.  Washington's  home,  took 
him  prisoner  and  appropriated  his  property. 


JOSEPH  E.  JOHNSTON. 


44  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


VIRGINIA'S  POSITION  IN  1861— VIEWS  OF  ALL  SEC- 
TIONS OF  THE  STATE. 

Hon.  Edwin  P.  Cox. 

The  John  Brown  raid  had  awakened  the  South,  and  Virginia  in  particular, 
to  the  possibilities  of  that  abolition  sentiment  which  had  been  steadily  grow- 
ing in  the  North  since  1830;  but  this  raid  did  not  convince  Virginia  that  she 
should  break  the  ties  of  union  in  an  effort  to  preserve  her  women  and  chil- 
dren from  the  ravages  of  self-constituted  liberators  and  negroes.  On  the 
contrary,  Virginia  positively  declined  to  receive  any  overtures  looking  to 
secession  after  the  John  Brown  raid  and  declined  to  enter  into  an  arrangement 
proposed  by  South  Carolina  on  the  ground  that  it  would  mean  secession. 
In  1860,  however,  the  situation  became  more  gloomy.  The  Democratic 
party,  meeting  in  national  Convention  in  Charleston,  became  hopelessly 
divided,  and  a  split  in  the  party  resulted.  Virginia  did  her  best  to  heal  the 
breach,  but  when  the  Northern  Democrats,  assembling  in  Baltimore,  declined 
to  receive  the  delegates  who  had  left  the  Convention  at  Charleston,  Virginia's 
representatives  in  the  Convention,  left  that  body  and  joined  with  the  other 
Southern  delegates  in  a  Convention  at  Richmond.  In  the  meantime,  the 
Republicans  had  nominated  Abraham  Lincoln  for  the  Presidency  on  a  ticket 
of  direct  hostility  to  the  South;  and  the  Whigs — or  such  of  them  as  were 
left — had  nominated  James  Bell  for  the  Presidency  on  a  ticket  of  conciliation 
and  L'nion.  As  a  proof  of  her  desire  to  preserve  the  Union,  Virginia  did 
something  she  had  not  done  before:  she  rejected  the  Democratic  ticket  and 
threw  the  State  vote  to  Bell  and  Everett,  that  is,  to  men  whose  policy  was 
one  of  conciliation.  But  Lincoln  had  triumphed;  abolitionism  was 
supreme;  and  South  Carolina,  feeling  that  the  election  of  Lincoln  was  an  act 
of  war  against  the  South,  seceded  from  the  Union,  December  21,  1860.  Other 
States  speedily  followed  her,  and,  on  February  8,  1861,  formed  the  Southern 
Confederacy  at  Montgomery.  Virginia  could  not  watch  this  partition  of 
the  Union  without  concern.  She  had  struggled  long  for  the  Union;  she  had 
given  to  it  some  of  her  ablest  sons,  and  she  loved  it.  Her  representatives  in 
the  General  Assembly,  however,  thought  that  the  sovereign  people  of  the 
State  should  assemble  in  Convention  and  decide  what  course  they  should 
pursue.  Accordingly  the  Assembly  called  a  convention  of  the  people  to  as- 
semble in  Richmond,  February  13,  and  in  the  meantime,  sent  delegates  to 
the  seceded  States  and  to  Washington,  in  an  effort  to  preserve  peace,  and, 
in  addition,  called  a  convention  of  all  the  States,  the  "Peace  Convention." 

The  election  to  the  Convention  was  held  on  February  7,  and  its  result 
showed  plainly  the  conservative  attitude  of  Virginia  and  her  desire  to  main- 
tain the  Union.  Those  men  who  were  candidates  for  the  Convention  on  a 
platform  of  "immediate  secession" — that  is,  the  men  who  believed  that 
Virginia  had  sufficient  ground  for  leaving  the  Union— were  in  most  instances 
defeated;  and  a  majority  of  the  delegates  elected  represented  the  National 
Democratic  and  old  Whig  parties.    They  were  men  who  believed  that  the 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  45 


traditions  of  Virginia  should  be  maintained  and  that  in  this  crisis  of  National 
life  she  should  do  all  in  her  power  to  preserve  the  Union.  States -Rights  men 
to  the  backbone,  these  conservatives  nevertheless  believed  that  secession 
should  not  be  resorted  to  except  as  a  last  alternative  of  self-defense.  When 
the  Convention  assembled  this  element  controlled  its  action  and  named 
John  Janney  as  president. 

Botetourt  Resolutions. 

Offered  in  a  large  mass  meeting  of  the  people  of  Botetourt  County, 
December  10th,  1860,  by  the  Hon.  John  J.  Allen,  President  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Virginia,  and  adopted  with  but  two  dissenting  voices. 

The  people  of  Botetourt  County,  in  general  meeting  as- 
sembled, believe  it  to  be  the  duty  of  all  the  citizens  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, in  the  present  alarming  condition  of  our  country,  to 
give  some  expression  of  their  opinion  upon  the  threatening  aspect 
of  public  affairs.  They  deem  it  unnecessary  and  out  of  place  to 
avow  sentiments  of  loyalty  to  the  constitution  and  devotion  to 
the  Union  of  these  States.  A  brief  reference  to  the  part  the 
State  has  acted  in  the  past  will  furnish  the  best  evidence  of  the 
feelings  of  her  sons  in  regard  to  the  Union  of  the  States  and  the 
constitution,  which  is  the  sole  bond  which  binds  them  together. 

In  the  controversies  with  the  mother  country,  growing  out 
of  the  efforts  of  the  latter  to  tax  the  colonies  without  their  con- 
sent, it  was  Virginia  who,  by  the  resolutions  against  the  stamp 
act,  gave  the  example  of  the  first  authoritative  resistance  by  a 
legislative  body  to  the  British  Government,  and  so  imparted  the 
first  impulse  to  the  Revolution. 

Virginia  declared  her  independence  before  any  of  the  colonies, 
and  gave  the  first  written  constitution  to  mankind. 

By  her  instructions  her  representatives  in  the  General  Con- 
gress introduced  a  resolution  to  declare  the  colonies  independ- 
ent States,  and  the  declaration  itself  was  written  by  one  of  her 
sons. 

She  furnished  to  the  Confederate  States  the  father  of  his 
country,  under  whose  guidance  independence  was  achieved,  and 
the  rights  and  liberties  of  each  State,  it  was  hoped,  perpetually 
established. 

She  stood  undismayed  through  the  long  night  of  the  Rev- 
olution, breasting  the  storm  of  war  and  pouring  out  the  blood  of 
her  sons  like  water  on  almost  every  battle-field,  from  the  ram- 
parts of  Quebec  to  the  sands  of  Georgia. 


46  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


By  her  own  unaided  efforts  the  northwestern  territory  was 
conquered,  whereby  the  Mississippi,  instead  of  the  Ohio  river, 
was  recognized  as  the  boundary  of  the  United  States  by  the 
treaty  of  peace. 

To  secure  harmony,  and  as  an  evidence  of  her  estimate  of 
the  value  of  the  Union  of  the  States,  she  ceded  to  all  for  their 
common  benefit  this  magnificent  region — an  empire  in  itself. 

When  the  articles  of  confederation  were  shown  to  be  in- 
adequate to  secure  peace  and  tranquillity  at  home  and  respect 
abroad,  Virginia  first  moved  to  bring  about  a  more  perfect 
Union. 

At  her  instance  the  first  assemblage  of  commissioners  took 
place  at  Annapolis,  which  ultimately  led  to  the  meeting  of  the 
convention  which  formed  the  present  constitution. 

This  instrument  itself  was  in  a  great  measure  the  production 
of  one  of  her  sons,  who  has  been  justly  styled  the  father  of  the 
constitution. 

The  government  created  by  it  was  put  into  operation  with 
her  Washington,  the  father  of  his  country,  at  its  head;  her 
Jefferson,  the  author  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  in  his 
cabinet;  her  Madison,  the  great  advocate  of  the  constitution,  in 
the  legislative  hall. 

Under  the  leading  of  Virginia  statesmen  the  Revolution  of 
1798  was  brought  about,  Louisiana  was  acquired,  and  the  second 
war  of  independence  was  waged. 

Throughout  the  whole  process  of  the  Republic  she  has  never 
infringed  on  the  rights  of  any  State,  or  asked  or  received  an 
exclusive  benefit. 

On  the  contrary,  she  has  been  the  first  to  vindicate  the 
equality  of  all  the  States,  the  smallest  as  well  as  the  greatest. 

But  claiming  no  exclusive  benefit  for  her  efforts  and  sacrifices 
in  the  common  cause,  she  had  a  light  to  look  for  feelings  of 
fraternity  and  kindness  for  her  citizens  from  the  citizens  of  other 
States,  and  equality  of  rights  for  her  citizens  with  all  others; 
that  those  for  whom  she  had  done  so  much  would  abstain  from 
actual  aggressions  upon  her  soil,  or  if  they  could  not  be  prevented 
would  show  themselves  ready  and  prompt  in  punishing  the 
aggressors;  and  that  the  common  government,  to  the  promotion 
of  which  she  contributed  so  largely  for  the  purpose  of  '  'estab- 
lishing justice  and  insuring  domestic  tranquillity,"  would  not, 
whilst  the  forms  of  the  constitution  were  observed,  be  so  per- 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  47 


verted  in  spirit  as  to  inflict  wrong  and  injustice  and  produce 
universal  insecurity. 

These  reasonable  expectations  have  been  grievously  dis- 
appointed. 

Owing  to  a  spirit  of  pharisaical  fanaticism  prevailing  in  the 
North  in  reference  to  the  institution  of  slavery,  incited  by  foreign 
emissaries  and  fostered  by  corrupt  political  demagogues  in 
search  of  power  and  place,  a  feeling  has  been  aroused  between 
the  people  of  the  two  sections  of  what  was  once  a  common 
country,  which  of  itself  would  almost  preclude  the  administra- 
tion of  a  united  government  in  harmony. 

For  the  kindly  feelings  of  a  kindred  people  we  find  sub- 
stituted distrust,  suspicion  and  mutual  aversion. 

For  a  common  pride  in  the  name  American,  we  find  one  section 
even  in  foreign  lands  pursuing  the  other  with  revilings  and 
reproach. 

For  the  religion  of  a  Divine  Redeemer  of  all,  we  find  a  religion 
of  hate  against  a  part;  and  in  all  the  private  relations  of  life, 
instead  of  fraternal  regard,  a  "consuming  hate,"  which  has  but 
seldom  characterized  warring  nations. 

This  feeling  has  prompted  a  hostile  incursion  upon  our  own 
soil,  and  an  apotheosis  of  the  murderers,  who  were  justly  con- 
demned and  executed. 

It  has  shown  itself  in  the  legislative  halls  by  the  passage  of 
laws  to  obstruct  a  law  of  Congress  passed  in  pursuance  of  a  plain 
provision  of  the  constitution. 

It  has  been  manifested  by  the  industrious  circulation  of 
incendiary  publications,  sanctioned  by  leading  men,  occupying 
the  highest  station  in  the  gift  of  the  people,  to  produce  discord 
and  division  in  our  midst,  and  incite  to  midnight  murder  and 
every  imaginable  atrocity  against  an  unoffending  community. 

It  has  displayed  itself  in  a  persistent  denial  of  the  equal  rights 
of  the  citizens  of  each  State  to  settle  with  their  property  in  the 
common  territory  acquired  by  the  blood  and  treasure  of  all. 

It  is  shown  in  their  openly  avowed  determination  to  cir- 
cumscribe the  institution  of  slavery  within  the  territory  of  the 
States  now  recognizing  it,  the  inevitable  effect  of  which  would  be 
to  fill  the  present  slave-holding  States  with  an  ever  increasing 
negro  population,  resulting  in  the  banishment  of  our  own  non- 
slave-holding  population  in  the  first  instance,  and  the  eventual 


48  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


surrender  of  our  country  to  a  barbarous  race,  or,  what  seems  to  be 
desired,  an  amalgamation  with  the  African. 

And  it  has  at  last  culminated  in  the  election,  by  a  sectional 
majority  of  the  free  States  alone,  to  the  first  office  in  the  republic, 
of  the  author  of  the  sentiment  that  there  is  an  "irrepressible 
conflict"  between  free  and  slave  labor  and  that  there  must  be 
universal  freedom  or  universal  slavery;  a  sentiment  which  in- 
culcates, as  a  necessity  of  our  situation,  warfare  between  the 
two  sections  of  our  country  without  cessation  or  intermission 
until  the  weaker  is  reduced  to  subjection. 

In  view  of  this  state  of  things,  we  are  not  inclined  to  rebuke 
or  censure  the  people  of  any  of  our  sister  States  in  the  South, 
suffering  from  injury,  goaded  by  insults,  and  threatened  with 
such  outrages  and  wrongs,  for  their  bold  determination  to  re- 
lieve themselves  from  such  injustice  and  oppression,  by  resorting 
to  their  ultimate  and  sovereign  right  to  dissolve  the  compact 
which  they  had  formed  and  to  provide  new  guards  for  their 
future  security. 

Nor  have  we  any  doubt  of  the  right  of  any  State,  there  being 
no  common  umpire  between  co-equal  sovereign  States,  to  judge 
for  itself  on  its  own  responsibility,  as  to  the  mode  and  measure 
of  redress. 

The  States,  each  for  itself,  exercised  this  sovereign  power 
when  they  dissolved  their  connection  with  the  British  Empire. 

They  exercised  the  same  power  when  nine  of  the  States  se- 
ceded from  the  confederation  and  adopted  the  present  constitu- 
tion, though  two  States  at  first  rejected  it. 

The  articles  of  confederation  stipulated  that  those  articles 
should  be  inviolably  observed  by  every  State,  and  that  the 
Union  should  be  perpetual,  and  that  no  alteration  should  be 
made  unless  agreed  to  by  Congress  and  confirmed  by  every 
State. 

Notwithstanding  this  solemn  compact,  a  portion  of  the  States 
did,  without  the  consent  of  the  others,  form  a  new  compact; 
and  there  is  nothing  to  show,  or  by  which  it  can  be  shown,  that 
this  right  has  been,  or  can  be,  diminished  so  long  as  the  States 
continue  sovereign. 

The  confederation  was  consented  to  by  the  Legislature  for 
each  State ;  the  constitution  by  the  people  of  each  State  for  such 
State  alone.    One  is  as  binding  as  the  other,  and  no  more  so. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  49 


The  constitution,  it  is  true,  established  a  government,  and  it 
operates  directly  on  the  individual;  the"  confederation  was  a 
league  operating  primarily  on  the  States.  But  each  was  adopted 
by  the  State  for  itself ;  in  the  one  case  by  the  Legislature  acting 
for  the  State;  in  the  other  "by  the  people  not  as  individuals 
composing  one  nation,  but  as  composing  the  distinct  and  inde- 
pendent States  to  which  they  respectively  belong." 

The  foundation,  therefore,  on  which  it  was  established  was 
federal,  and  the  State,  in  the  exercise  of  the  same  sovereign 
authority  by  which  she  ratified  for  herself,  may  for  herself  ab- 
rogate and  annul. 

The  operation  of  its  powers,  whilst  the  State  remains  in  the 
Confederacy,  is  national;  and  consequently  a  State  remaining 
in  the  Confederacy  and  enjoying  its  benefits  cannot,  by  any  mode 
of  procedure,  withdraw  its  citizens  from  the  obligation  to  obey  the 
constitution  and  the  laws  passed  in  pursuance  thereof. 

But  when  a  State  does  secede,  the  constitution  and  laws 
of  the  United  States  cease  to  operate  therein.  No  power  is  con- 
ferred on  Congress  to  enforce  them.  Such  authority  was  denied 
to  the  Congress  in  the  convention  which  framed  the  constitution, 
because  it  would  be  an  act  of  war"  of  nation  against  nation — not 
the  exercise  of  the  legitimate  power  of  a  government  to  enforce 
its  laws  on  those  subject  to  its  jurisdiction. 

The  assumption  of  such  a  power  would  be  the  assertion  of 
a  prerogative  claimed  by  the  British  Government  to  legislate  for 
the  colonies  in  all  cases  whatever;  it  would  constitute  of  itself 
a  dangerous  attack  on  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  should  be 
promptly  repelled. 

These  principles,  resulting  from  the  nature  of  our  system  of 
confederate  States,  cannot  admit  of  question  in  Virginia. 

Our  people  in  convention,  by  their  act  of  ratification,  de- 
clared and  made  known  that  the  powers  granted  under  the  con- 
stitution being  derived  from  the  people  of  the  United  States,  may 
be  resumed  by  them  whenever  they  shall  be  perverted  to  their 
injury  and  oppression. 

From  what  people  were  these  powers  derived?  Confessedly 
from  the  people  of  each  State,  acting  for  themselves.  By  whom 
w^ere  they  to  be  resumed  or  taken  back?  By  the  people  of  the 
State  who  were  then  granting  them  away.  Who  were  to  de- 
termine whether  the  powers  granted  had  been  perverted  to  their 


50  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


In  j ury  or  oppression  ?  Not  the  whole  people  of  the  United  States, 
for  there  could  be  no  oppression  of  the  whole  with  their  own 
consent ;  and  it  could  not  have  entered  into  the  conception  of  the 
convention  that  the  powers  granted  could  not  be  resumed  until 
the  oppressor  himself  united  in  such  resumption. 

They  asserted  the  right  to  resume  in  order  to  guard  the  people 
of  Virginia,  for  whom  alone  the  convention  could  act,  against 
the  oppression  of  an  irresponsible  and  sectional  majority,  the 
worst  form  of  oppression  with  which  an  angry  Providence  has 
ever  afflicted  humanity. 

Whilst,  therefore,  we  regret  that  any  State  should,  in  a  matter 
of  common  grievance,  have  determined  to  act  for  herself  with- 
out consulting  with  her  sister  States  equally  aggrieved,  we  are 
nevertheless  constrained  to  say  that  the  occasion  justifies  and 
loudly  calls  for  action  of  some  kind. 

The  election  of  a  President,  by  a  sectional  majority,  as  the 
representative  of  the  principles  referred  to,  clothed  with  the 
patronage  and  power  incident  to  the  office,  including  the  au- 
thority to  appoint  all  the  postmasters  and  other  officers  charged 
with  the  execution  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  is  itself  a 
standing  menace  to  the  South — a  direct  assault  upon  her  insti- 
tutions— an  incentive  to  robbery  and  insurrection,  requiring 
from  our  own  immediate  local  government,  in  its  sovereign 
character,  prompt  action  to  obtain  additional  guarantees  for 
equality  and  security  in  the  Union,  or  to  take  measures  for  pro- 
tection and  security  without  it. 

In  view,*  therefore,  of  the  present  condition  of  our  country, 
and  the  causes  of  it,  we  declare  almost  in  the  words  of  our 
fathers  contained  in  an  address  of  the  freeholders  of  Botetourt, 
in  February,  1775,  to  the  delegates  from  Virginia,  to  the  Con- 
tinental Congress,  "That  we  desire  no  change  in  our  government 
whilst  left  to  the  free  enjoyment  of  our  equal  privileges  secured 
by  the  constitution ;  but  should  a  wicked  and  tyrannical  sectional 
majority,  under  the  sanction  of  the  forms  of  the  constitution, 
persist  in  acts  of  injustice  and  violence  towards  us,  they  only 
must  be  answerable  for  the  consequences. 

"That  liberty  is  so  strongly  impressed  upon  our  hearts  that  we 
cannot  think  of  parting  with  it  with  our  lives;  that  our  duty  to 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  51 


God,  our  country,  ourselves  and  our  posterity  forbid  it;  we  stand, 
therefore,  prepared  for  every  contingency." 

Resolved  Therefore,  That  in  view  of  the  facts  set  out  in  the 
foregoing  preamble,  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  meeting  that  a 
convention  of  the  people  should  be  called  forthwith;  that  the 
State,  in  its  sovereign  character,  should  consult  with  the  other 
Southern  States,  and  agree  upon  such  guarantees  as  in  their 
opinion  will  secure  their  equality,  tranquillity  and  rights  within 
the  Union;  and  in  the  event  of  a  failure  to  obtain  such  guaran- 
tees, to  adopt  in  concert  with  the  other  Southern  States,  or  alone, 
such  measures  as  may  seem  most  expedient  to  protect  the  rights 
and  insure  the  safety  of  the  people  of  Virginia. 

And  in  the  event  of  a  change  in  our  relations  to  the  other 
States  being  rendered  necessary,  that  the  convention  so  elected 
should  recommend  to  the  people,  for  their  adoption,  such  alter- 
ations in  our  State  constitution  as  may  adapt  it  to  the  altered 
condition  of  the  State  and  country. 


52  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL 


Speech  of  John  Janney  Upon  Assuming  Chair  as 
President  of  the  Virginia  Convention . xs 

Gentlemen,  there  is  a  flag  which  for  nearly  a  century  has  been 
borne  in  triumph  through  the  battle  and  the  breeze,  and  which 
now  floats  over  this  capitol,  on  which  there  is  a  star  representing 
this  ancient  Commonwealth,  and  my  earnest  prayer,  in  which  I 
know  every  member  of  this  body  will  cordially  unite,  is  that  it 
may  remain  there  forever,  provided  always  that  its  lustre  is 
untarnished.  We  demand  for  our  own  citizens  perfect  equality 
of  rights  with  those  of  the  empire  States  of  New  York,  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Ohio,  but  we  ask  for  nothing  that  we  will  not  cheer- 
fully concede  to  those  of  Delaware  and  Rhode  Island. 

The  amount  of  responsibility  which  rests  upon  this  body  can- 
nct  be  exaggerated.  When  my  constituents  asked  me  if  I 
would  consent  to  serve  them  here  if  elected,  I  answered  in  the 
affirmative,  but  I  did  so  with  fear  and  trembling.  The  people 
of  Virginia  have,  it  is  true,  reserved  to  themselves,  in  a  certain 
contingency,  the  right  to  review  our  action,  but  still  the  meas- 
ures which  we  adopt  may  be  fraught  with  good  or  evil  to  the 
whole  country. 

Is  it  too  much  to  hope  that  we,  and  others  who  are  engaged 
in  the  work  of  peace  and  conciliation,  may  so  solve  the  problems 
which  now  perplex  us,  as  to  win  back  our  sisters  of  the  South, 
who,  for  what  they  deem  sufficient  cause,  have  wandered  from 
their  old  orbits?  May  we  not  expect  that  our  old  sister,  Mas- 
sachusetts will  retrace  her  steps?  Will  she  not  follow  the  noble 
example  of  Rhode  Island,  the  little  State  with  a  heart  large 
enough  for  a  whole  continent?16     Will  she  not,  when  she  remem- 

15  The  splendid  speech  which  follows  was  delivered  by  Janney  on  taking 
the  chair  and  is  an  admirable  statement  of  Virginia's  views  at  the  time. 
Janney  himself  was  a  Whig,  a  native  of  Loudoun  County  and  one  of  the  most 
upright  and  pure-minded  men  in  Virginia.  The  other  extracts  from  speeches 
and  frcm  resolutions  passed  at  the  time  indicate  the  trend  of  public  opinion. 

16  This  referred  to  the  action  of  Rhode  Island  in  offering  to  rescind  her 
"personal  liberty  law."  This  law  was  one  of  a  series  enacted  by  the  Northern 
States  after  the  passage  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law  in  1851,  and  was  one  of 
the  chief  grievances  of  the  South.  The  Constitution,  it  will  be  recalled, 
provided  that  a  fugitive  from  justice  fleeing  from  one  State  and  apprehended 
in  another  State  should  be  returned  by  the  authorities  of  the  latter  State. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  53 


bers  who  it  was  who  first  drew  his  sword  from  the  scabbard  on 
her  own  soil  at  Cambridge,1?  and  never  finally  returned  it  until 
her  liberty  and  independence  were  achieved,  and  whence  he 
came,  repeal  her  obnoxious  laws,  which  many  of  her  own  wisest 
and  best  citizens  regard  as  a  stain  upon  her  legislative  records? 

Gentlemen,  this  is  no  party  Convention.  It  is  our  duty  on 
an  occasion  like  this  to  elevate  ourselves  into  an  atmosphere,  in 
which  party  passion  and  prejudice  cannot  exist — to  conduct  all 
our  deliberations  with  calmness  and  wisdom,  and  to  maintain, 
with  inflexible  firmness,  whatever  position  we  may  find  it 
necessary  to  assume.18 — Journal  of  Convention  of  1861 — pp.  9-10. 

Under  the  provision  of  this  section  Congress  had  early  passed  a  so-called 
fugitive  slave  law  which  provided  that  slaves  fleeing  from  their  masters  and 
apprehended  in  one  State  should  be  returned  to  the  State  from  which  they 
fled.  This  law  was  faulty  in  some  essential  respects  and  could  not  be 
enforced  by  the  Federal  authorities.  Following  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  in  the  case  of  Prigg  vs.  Pennsylvania  (16  Pet.,  539),  an  agitation  arose 
for  a  more  stringent  fugitive  slave  law.  This  was  enacted  as  a  part  of  the 
compromise  of  1850,  largely  through  the  efforts  of  Senator  Mason.  This 
law  placed  the  arrest  and  return  of  fugitives  in  the  hands  of  Federal  mar- 
shals and  organized  machinery  by  which  the  Constitution  could  be  enforced. 
In  opposition  to  this  legislation  a  number  of  the  Northern  States  enacted  so- 
called  personal  liberty  laws,  which  practically  threw  the  entire  machinery  of 
tfye  State  Government  in  opposition  to  the  mandate  of  the  Constitution  and 
of  the  Federal  statute,  enabling  a  fugitive  negro  to  escape  apprehension  or 
return.  These  laws  were  clearly  unconstitutional,  were  intended  to  be  uncon- 
stitutional, and  were  enacted  in  bitter  partisan  spirit.  When  the  war 
approached  and  the  division  of  the  Union  seemed  inevitable,  Rhode  Island 
repealed  this  law  as  a  token  of  her  desire  for  reconciliation.  The  Fugitive 
Slave  laws  are  treated  fully  in  all  the  standard  histories  of  the  United  States. 
The  most  recent  brief  study  is  to  be  found  in  Smith,  Parties  and  Slavery. 
For  a  more  extended  study  see  McDougall,  Fugitive  Slaves. 

17  The  reference  of  course  is  to  Washington. 

18  The  sentiments  expressed  by  John  Janney  as  quoted  above  were  reflected 
by  leaders  of  public  opinion  in  Virginia  during  the  troubled  weeks  that 
followed  the  meeting  of  the  Virginia  Convention,  and  indeed  during  the 
entire  period  prior  to  Lincoln's  call  for  troops.  These  were  trying  times. 
The  Convention  called  by  Virginia  and  meeting  in  Washington  was  unable 
to  agree  on  any  feasible  plan  of  reconstructing  the  Union,  and  the  compromise 
which  it  finally  offered,  known  as  the  "Franklin  Plan,"  was  unsatisfactory 
both  to  the  North  and  to  the  South.  (See  Chittenden,  Peace  Convention.) 
This  Convention  adjourned  February  27,  but  its  proposed  amendments  to 
the  Constitution  did  not  receive  the  approval  of  Congress.  In  a  few  days 
Lincoln  was  inaugurated  President.  In  his  speech  on  that  occasion  he  defi- 
nitely declared  his  purpose  of  upholding  "the  laws  of  the  Union."    In  other 


54  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


words,  guardedly  but  positively,  he  declared  that  he  would  enforce  the 
Federal  laws  in  the  States  which  had  seceded  and  would  in  this  manner 
prevent  peaceable  secession  and  the  erection  of  a  new  government  iu  the 
South.  This  threw  the  Virginia  Convention  into  a  very  violent  debate. 
Many  men  declared  that  the  time  for  secession  had  come,  and  viewed  Lin- 
coln's inauguration  as  a  declaration  of  war.  In  opposition  to  this  view  the 
conservative  men  in  the  Convention  declared  that  they  would  not  permit  the 
secession  of  Virginia  until  forced  to  do  so,  and  accordingly,  despite  Lincoln's 
speech,  would  not  move  for  secession.  It  was  during  this  period  that  most 
of  the  speeches  quoted  below  and  selected  by  Hon.  E.  P.  Cox,  of  Richmond, 
were  delivered.  They  show  better  than  any  comment  can  the  true  views  of 
the  people  of  Virginia. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


55 


John  Goode. 

Sir,  I  know  not  what  others  may  think;  I  know  not  what 
others  may  do;  but  for  myself  I  feel  a  sense  of  the  solemn  re- 
sponsibilities which  now  rest  upon  me,  and  appealing  to  the 
Searcher  of  Hearts,  as  to  the  rectitude  of  my  purpose,  I  have  no 
hesitation  in  declaring,  that  in  my  humble  opinion,  Virginia 
ought  now,  promptly  and  without  delay,  take  her  position  at  the 
head  of  the  Southern  column. 

Sir,  I  believe  in  my  inmost  soul  that  immediate  separation 
from  the  Northern  Confederacy  is  a  peace  measure.  If  we  are 
to  believe  the  organs  of  Black  Republican  sentiment  in  the  North, 
the  coercion  of  the  seceded  States  is  to  be  attempted  by  the 
Lincoln  Administration.  The  tone  of  the  Northern  press,  the 
declarations  of  their  representative  men,  the  votes  and  speeches 
of  their  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress,  the  action  of 
their  State  Legislatures,  the  collection  of  the  Federal  troops  at 
the  Federal  Metropolis,  the  repeated  declarations  of  Mr.  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  himself,  the  organization  and  constant  drilling  of 
Northern  Wide- Awakes,  are  sufficient  in  my  judgment  to  con- 
vince the  most  skeptical  upon  this  subject.  He  may  not  at- 
tempt, sir,  to  march  his  Federal  myrmidons  into  a  seceded  State, 
but  he  will  attempt  to  collect  the  Federal  revenue  and  retake  the 
captured  forts.  Will  our  Southern  brethren  submit  to  this? 
Submit!  Why  sir,  it  is  a  slander  upon  their  fair  fame  and  good 
name  to  entertain  the  idea  for  one  solitary  moment.  You  may 
talk  about  your  alien  and  sedition  laws;  your  stamp  acts;  your 
tax  upon  tea,  and  the  most  abominable  tyranny  that  ever 
cursed  any  people  upon  earth;  but  I  maintain  that  the  most 
abhorrent  tyranny  upon  earth  would  be  to  attempt  to  wring 
tribute  from  the  pockets  of  an  unwilling  people. 

Sir,  the  union  of  these  States,  can  never  be  restored  by  the 
power  of  the  sword.  It  has  rested  upon  entirely  different 
grounds  in  the  past;  it  has  rested  upon  public  opinion  and  been 
preserved  in  the  hearts  and  affections  of  the  people.  I  say  then, 
that  threats  of  coercion  can  have  no  fears  for  freemen.  The 
blood  of  the  martyrs  in  every  age  has  been  the  seed  of  the 
Church  and  if  coercion  is  attempted,  the  blood  of  slaughtered 
patriots  would  be  like  the  dragons'  teeth  sown  upon  the  earth, 


i 


56 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


from  which  would  come  forth  heroes,  full  grown  and  armed, 
ready  to  spring  into  life  and  rush  to  battle. 

Then,  sir,  they  will  attempt,  doubtless,  the  coercion  of  the 
seceded  States,  but  they  will  never  attempt  to  coerce  a  united 
South.  The  strong  sometimes  are  tempted  to  make  war  upon 
the  weak;  but  the  strong  sit  down  and  reflect  long  and  well 
before  they  make  war  upon  the  strong.  And,  sir,  when  Old 
Virginia  places  herself  at  the  head  of  this  Southern  column, 
the  other  border  States  will  wheel  quickly  into  line  and  then,  in 
my  humble  judgment,  will  the  offensive  and  insulting  threats 
of  Northern  coercion  be  abandoned.  Then,  sir,  and  not  until 
then  will  "grim  visaged  war  smooth  his  wrinkled  front"  and  all 
again  be  peace- — then  may  the  union  of  our  fathers  be  re-con- 
structed upon  fair,  just  and  honorable  principles,  and  our  coun- 
try move  forward  once  again  upon  a  brilliant  career  of  prosper- 
ity and  glory. 

Sir,  what  a  noble  chaplet  would  be  hereafter  entwined  about 
the  venerable  brow  of  our  blessed  old  mother,  if,  under  the 
Providence  of  God,  it  should  be  her  mission  to  restore  peace  to 
these  dissevered,  discordant  and  almost  belligerent  States;  if, 
in  the  Providence  of  God,  it  should  be  her  destiny  to  appear  at 
the  mouth  of  the  sepulcher  itself  of  this  dead  Union  and  say, 
"Lazarus,  come  forth!"  I  say,  it  would  be  a  noble  chaplet.  Not 
only  the  people  of  this  now  distracted  land  would  with  one 
acclaim  bless  her;  the  nations  of  the  earth  would  cry  all  hail  to 
her  and  what  is  more,  we  have  the  word  of  eternal  truth  itself, 
which  cannot  fail  that  "blessed  are  the  peace-makers  for  they 
shall  be  the  elect  of  Heaven."  If  there  are  among  those  who 
hear  me  to-day*  who  earnestly  and  ardently  desire  a  re-construc- 
tion of  this  Union  upon  terms  of  fair,  just  and  honorable  princi- 
ples, I  sympathize  with  them  cordially,  but  I  beg  them  to  re- 
member that  Virginia  can  never  exert  her  just  and  proper  in- 
fluence with  the  now  seceded  States  until  she  manifests  her 
determination  to  cut  loose  from  the  Northern  aggressor  and  take 
sides  with  the  oppressed — until  she  manifests  her  determination 
to  share  with  her  gallant  Southern  sisters  the  dangers  and  the 
perils  and  the  trying  ordeal  through  which  they  are  now  passing. 
Why,  sir,  when  they  sent  their  Ambassadors  here  to  defer  to 
Virginia,  to  ask  her  to  take  the  lead  and  say  what  was  best  to  be 
done  for  the  common  good,  and  when  Old  Virginia  cooly  spurned 
the  offer  of  sympathy  and  turned  away  from  her  children,  it 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  57 


was  but  natural  that  these  Southern  States  should  feel  some 
temporary  distrust  towards  the  Old  Mother.  Was  it  not 
natural?  They  did  feel  it.  They  felt  it  properly.  But  when 
Virginia  shall  move  into  the  line  and  proclaim  to  the  world  that, 
come  weal  or  come  woe,  her  destinies  are  indissolubly  linked 
with  her  Sister  States  of  the  South;  when  she  shall  take  this 
position,  and  this  unnatural  strife  shall  be  terminated  hereafter; 
when  Virginia  invites  the  Southern  Sisters  to  come  back  into  the 
government  which  she  has  helped  to  reconstruct — they  will 
come,  sir,  I  hope  not  as  my  friend  from  Rockbridge  (Mr.  Moore) 
supposed  on  yesterday;  they  will  come  not  like  the  prodigal  son 
of  old  repenting  in  sackcloth  and  ashes,  for  what  they  have 
done — but  they  will  come  in  the  proud  consciousness  of  virtue 
and  right;  they  will  come  back  to  the  Old  Mother  in  the  touching 
and  beautiful  language  of  Ruth  to  Naomi:  "Entreat  me  not  to 
leave  thee  or  to  return  from  following  after  thee,  for  whither  thou 
goest  I  will  go,  and  where  thou  lodgest,  I  will  lodge;  thy  people 
shall  be  my  people,  and  thy  God  my  God.  Where  thou  diest 
will  I  die,  and  there  will  I  be  buried." 

But  if  in  this,  sir,  I  shall  be  mistaken:  If  Virginia  cannot 
reconstruct  the  Union,  Virginia  can  secure  a  peaceable  separa- 
tion. Sir,  if  we  cannot  live  together  with  our  Northern  con- 
federates, we  have  a  right  to  be  permitted  to  separate;  we  have  a 
right  surely  to  depart  in  peace.  This  would  be  a  poor  boon  and 
Virginia,  by  a  prompt  and  decided  action,  in  my  humble  judg- 
ment, would  either  restore  the  Union  or  secure  a  peaceable  and 
final  separation;  she  would  have  a  right  to  say,  sir,  as  was  said 
by  one  of  old,  "Let  there  be  no  contention  I  pray  thee  between 
thou  and  me — thou  wilt  go  to  the  right,  and  I  will  go  to  the  left." 

But  sir,  I  say  it  is  no  longer  a  question  of  Union  or  disunion. 
The  question  is,  will  we  go  North  or  will  we  go  South?  Every 
consideration  of  interest,  of  honor,  of  patriotism — every  impulse 
of  the  heart  prompts  the  Virginia  people  to  cast  their  destiny 
with  their  sister  States  of  the  South.  Sir,  more  than  300,000  of 
those  Southern  people  have  gone  from  Virginia.  They  claim 
Virginia  as  their  mother;  they  are  our  brethren,  our  kindred, 
bone  of  our  bone,  flesh  of  our  flesh.  Can  Virginia  desert  them 
now?  Can  Virginia  desert  them  in  their  hour  of  greatest  need? 
As  well  sir,  might  I  ask  if  a  mother  could  forget  and  desert  her 
own  offspring?  Speech  in  Convention,  February  2  6,  i86i — Rich- 
mon  Enquirer,  February  27,  1861. 


58 


MEMORIAL  DAY  AW  UAL. 


Gex.  T.  J.  (Stonewall)  Jackson: 

"The  time  may  come  when  your  State  may  need  your  services; 
and  if  that  time  does  come,  then  draw  your  swords  and  throw 
away  the  scabbards."  Speech  to  the  cadets  of  the  Virginia 
Military  Institute;  Henderson:  Life  of  Jackson.  Vol.  I.,  p.  100. 

Albemarle  : 

"If  we — the  advocates  of  immediate  secession — could  have 
carried  our  wishes,  we  would  have  pressed  the  lightning  into  our 
service  ********  We  recognize  that  we  have 
not  now,  nor  have  we  had.  the  power  to  control  this  Convention. 
We  have  indicated,  however,  weeks  ago,  what  the  true  policy  of 
Virginia  was."  J.  P.  Holcombe.  delegate1*  from  Albemarle 
County.  In  Convention.  April  13.  1861 — Richmond  Examiner, 
April  16th,  1861. 

Alexandria: 

"If  then,  Mr.  President,  these  efforts  on  the  part  of  Virginia 
for  conciliation  and  harmony  shall  fail,  if  the  Northern  States 
shall  reject  the  overtures  of  peace  thus  tendered,  and  shall 
attempt  to  inaugurate  the  policy  indicated  by  the  Chicago 
platform,  if  then,  in  the  battle's  wreck  and  midnight  of  storms 
which  shall  follow,  this  Union,  the  Rome  of  our  hearts  and  af- 
fections, with  all  their  storied  memories  of  the  pictured  past 
"Shall  in  Tiber  melt, 
And  the  vast  range  of  its  wide  Empire  fall' 1 
we  shall  be  cheered  by  the  consoling  reflection,  that  we,  at  least 

19James  P.  Holcombe  was  one  of  the  leading  lawyers  of  Virginia,  and  a 
famous  teacher  of  his  chosen  profession.  Born  in  Lynchburg.  September  25. 
1820,  he  was  chosen  assistant  to  Professor  John  B.  Minor  in  1S52  and,  two 
years  later,  was  appointed  to  a  full  professorship.  Retiring  from  the  Uni- 
versity in  1S61,  he  was  elected  to  the  Confederate  Congress  and  served  until 
1863.  After  the  war  he  opened  a  school  for  boys  in  Bedford  County  and 
later  removed  it  to  Capon  Springs.  West  Virginia.  He  died  August  22,  1873. 
In  addition  to  being  the  author  of  a  large  number  of  legal  and  historical  pub- 
lications. Holcombe  was  an  orator  of  recognized  ability,  and  ranked  with 
the  leading  men  of  his  generation  in  the  State. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  59 


are  innocent.  Speech  of  G.  W.  Brent,20  delegate  from  Alexan- 
dria, in  Convention,  March  8,  1861- — Richmond  Enquirer, 
March  9,  1861. 

Culpeper: 

"This  Convention  has  witnessed  with  deep  concern  the  failure 
on  the  part  of  the  authorities  of  the  Federal  Government  and 
a  majority  of  the  non-slave  holding  State  Governments,  to 
co-operate  efficiently  with  the  authorities  of  this  Common- 
wealth in  an  earnest  effort  to  restore  the  Federal  Union  on 
terms  consistent  with  the  security  of  the  people  of  the  slave 
holding  States."  Extract  from  resolution  offered  by  Hon. 
James  Barbour,-1  delegate  from  Culpeper  County,  in  Convention, 
March  9,  1861 — Richmond  Enquirer,  March  11,  1861. 

Fauquier  : 

"Virginia  would  never  consent  to  become  a  party  to  a  war  on 
her  Southern  sisters;  they  had  adopted  a  resolution  to  that  ef- 
fect, and  he  hoped  that  it  was  not  merely  words,  but  an  emphatic 
declaration  of  intention,  and  that  coercion  under  no  circum- 
stances would  be  tolerated.  He  was  free  to  say  that  so  soon  as 
he  knew  the  Federal  Government  meditated  war,  he  was  ready 
to  vote  for  secession;  but  it  was  his  opinion  that  the  Federal 
authorities  did  not  meditate  aggressive  war."  Speech  of  Hon. 
R.  E.  Scott,2-  delegate  from  Fauquier  County,  in  Convention, 
April  8th,  1861 — Richmond  Examiner,  April  9,  1861. 

20George  W.  Brent  was  a  delegate  whose  views  are  very  important,  since 
he  was  chosen  to  the  Convention  as  a  Union  man  and  was  strongly  opposed 
to  secession  except  as  a  last  alternative.  His  constituents,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered, were  those  who  would  suffer  first  from  Federal  invasion,  yet,  while 
anxious  to  preserve  the  Union,  they  believed  that  Virginia  must  maintain 
her  dignity  and  do  her  part  in  the  defense  of  the  South. 

"James  Barbour,  of  Culpeper,  was  a  descendant  of  a  family  long  distin- 
guished in  public  life  and  represented  a  people  whose  history  and  traditions 
gave  them  weight  in  the  affairs  of  the  State. 

-Robert  E.  Scott  was  regarded  by  many  as  the  real  leader  of  the  conserv- 
ative element  in  the  Virginia  Convention.  Long  in  public  life  and  familiar 
with  the  eruditions  and  opinions  throughout  the  State,  he  was  loath  to  vote 
for  secesii  .i  until  Lincoln  called  for  troops.  This  action  convinced  him  that 
Virginia  must  join  the  South. 


60  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


Franklin  : 

"Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  having 
set  aside  the  Constitution  and  laws,  and  subverted  the  govern- 
ment of  the  said  United  States,  and  established  in  lieu  thereof 
an  usurped  government  founded  upon  the  worst  principles  of 
tyranny,  the  undersigned  has  therefore  determined  to  sign  the 
Ordinance  of  Secession  adopted  by  this  Convention  on  the  17th 
day  of  April  last,  with  the  intention  of  sustaining  the  liberties, 
independence  and  unity  of  the  State  of  Virginia  against  the  said 
Abraham  Lincoln,  his  aiders  and  abettors  and  with  no  hope  or 
desire  for  a  reconstruction  of  the  old  Union  in  any  manner  that 
shall  unite  the  people  of  Virginia  with  the  people  of  the  non- 
slaveholding  States  of  the  North."  (Signed)  "Jubal  A.  Early. 
Brenaman:  History  of  Virginia  Conventions,  p.  63. 

Bedford ; 

"Mr.  President,  for  myself,  though  I  know  no  evil  more 
horrible  than  Civil  War,  I  am  prepared  to  accept  any  alterna- 
tive for  Virginia,  rather  than  submission,  humiliation  and  dis- 
grace." Speech  of  John  Goode,24  in  Convention,  February 
26,  1861 — Richmond  Enquirer,  February  27,  1861. 

"But,  sir,  in  the  meantime,  if  resistance  should  become  neces- 
sary, if  it  so  happened  that  the  State  of  Virginia  should  be  in- 
vaded; that  her  rights  should  be  crippled  in  any  way;  that  any 
attempt  should  be  made  to  coerce  her  by  marching  Federal 

23Jubal  A.  Early,  later  Lieut enant-General  in  the  Confederate  States 
Arrnj'  and  a  well  known  figure  for  three  generations  in  Virginia,  was  elected 
to  the  Convention  as  a  Union  man  and  bitterly  opposed  secession  until 
Lincoln  called  for  troops.  The  views  here  expressed  and  appended  by  liim 
to  his  signature  to  the  Ordinance  of  Secession,  state  in  concise  form  the 
opinions  held  by  many  regarding  secession. 

24John  Goode,  of  Bedford,  was  one  of  the  younger  men  in  the  Secession 
Convention  and  was  generally  regarded  as  an  ardent  advocate  of  secession. 
Born  in JBedford,  May  27,  1829,  he  was  graduated  from  Emory  and  Henry 
College,  studied  law,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1851  and  was  long  prominent 
in  Virginia  affairs.  He  served  in  the  Confederate  Congress  during  the  whole 
course  of  the  war  and  was  president  of  the  Virginia  Convention  of  1901. 
His  brief  statement  here  shows  how  much  even  the  most  ardent  secessionists 
were  willing  to  concede  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  61 


troops  through  the  State — I  say,  sir,  should  these  things  be 
attempted,  I  will  stand  by  you,  sir,  and  stand  by  you  to  the 
last!"  Speech  of  Wm.  L.  Goggin,2s  delegate  from  Bedford 
County,  in  Convention,  February  27,  1861 — Richmond  En- 
quirer, February  28,  1861. 

Chesterfield  : 

1 'Permit  me  again,  gentlemen,  to  return  you  my  heartfelt 
thanks  for  the  honor  you  have  conferred  upon  me,  and  allow 
me  to  express  a  hope  that  your  deliberations  will  terminate  in 
honor  to  yourselves  and  this  good  old  Commonwealth,  and 
the  conciliation  of  this  great  Republic."  Speech  of  James  H. 
Cox  of  Chesterfield,26  in  accepting  Temporary  Chairmanship  of 
the  Convention,  February  13,  1861 — Richmond  Enquirer, 
February  14,  1861. 

Louisa: 

"We  were  obliged  to  consider  the  fearful  question  forced  upon 
us.  Then  we  did  consider  the  question  of  secession.  Then  the 
ties  which  bound  our  hearts  with  as  strong  and  enduring  bonds 
as  yours  could  be  bound  to  the  Union,  were  torn  one  by  one  by 
your  own  hands,  and  we  were  forced  calmly,  deliberately,  and 
conclusively,  to  the  conclusion  that  the  only  remedy  to  which 
we  could  look  for  a  redress  of  our  grievances,  was  secession,  and 
secession  alone."    Speech  of  W.  M.  Ambler,  Louisa  delegate, 

25William  L.  Goggin,  who  served  with  Mr.  Goode  as  delegate  from  Bed- 
ford in  the  Convention,  was  as  ardent  a  Whig  as  his  colleague  was  a  Demo- 
crat. Goggin  was  born  in  Bedford  May  31,  1807,  studied  law  at  Winchester, 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1828  and  came  to  the  Virginia  General  Assembly 
in  1836.  He  served  six  years  in  Congress  and  in  1859  was  an  unsuccessful 
candidate  for  governor  on  the  Whig  ticket.  He  died  in  Richmond  on  Janu- 
ary 5,  1876,  after  a  memorable  career.  It  is  significant  that  Goggin  came  to 
the  Convention  as  a  Union  man,  but  joined  the  ranks  of  the  secessionist 
party  when  Lincoln  declared  his  policy  in  his  inaugural. 

26This  speech  was  delivered  on  the  day  the  Virginia  Convention  assembled 
and  showed  how  anxious  was  this  ardent  friend  of  the  South  to  reconcile  the 
two  sections. 


62  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


in  Convention,  March  8,  1861 — Richmond  Enquirer,  March 
9.  1861.*' 

Middlesex  axd  Matthews: 

"If  that  day  shall  corner — which  God  in  his  mercy  avert — when 
you  and  I  will  have  to  be  exiled  or  yield  to  this  horde  of  North- 
ern Vandals,  I  re-echo,  sir,  (alluding  to  Mr.  Preston)  your  elo- 
quent sentiment.  I  will  not  be  exiled,  I  will  not  be  a  second 
Marius  to  go  off  amid  the  ruins  of  some  Carthage,  and  there  to 
weep  away  existence  in  bitter  agony  over  the  memory  of  lost 
and  past  glories,  but,  like  you,  sir,  will  stand  at  my  post  and 
fall  as  a  true  man — and  when  you  shall  sleep  in  your  own  green 
meadow,  beneath  your  own  native  mountain,  I  will  stand  on  the 
shores  of  my  own  native  Rappahannock,  and  there  will  I  fall 
and  the  ripple  of  its  waves  shall  be  the  requiem  that  will  soothe 
my  repose  till  the  morning  of  the  resurrection.  Virginia  I  will 
never  forsake.  I  will  die  in  Virginia,  and  trust  to  God  and  to 
posterity  to  vindicate  what  is  just  and  what  is  right."  Speech 
of  R.  L.  Montague.-8  delegate  of  Matthews  and  Middlesex, 
in  Convention,  April  1,  1861 — Richmond  Enquirer,  April  3,  1861. 

Montgomery: 

"The  reason  why  I  offered  that  resolution  was  because  it  is 
a  copy  of  the  precise  phrase  of  the  8th  resolution  in  the  report, 
that  has  met  so  hearty  an  approval  in  this  House  all  day  long; 
that  the  people  of  Virginia  will  never  consent  that  the  Federal 
power,  which  is  in  part  their  power,  shall  be  used  for  the  purpose 
of  coercion.  I  made  that  as  the  ground  upon  which  the  com- 
mittee might  present  themselves  to  the  President  and  say: 
"This  is  the  temper  of  Virginia  and  in  that  temper  we  come  in 
peace."    Speech  of  Hon.  William  Ballard   Preston,29  delegate 

■  Ambler  was  a  secessionist  of  the  advanced  type,  yet  his  utterances  were 
conservative  and  he  only  committed  himself  to  secession  when  Lincoln's 
inaugural  defined  his  policy. 

2"See  note  page  27. 

:9William  Ballard  Preston,  who  introduced  the  Ordinance  of  Secession, 
was  elected  to  the  Convention  from  Montgomery  County  as  a  Union  man 
and  sternly  opposed  secession  until  Lincoln's  call  for  troops.    He  had  a  long 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  63 


from  Montgomery  County,  in  Convention,  April  9,  1861 — 
Richmond  Enquirer,  April  11,  1861. 

Prince  Edward: 

"Mr.  President,  what  does  it  mean?  That  numbers  are  to 
decide  and  that  the  minority  is  to  submit?  Is  it  the  doctrine  of 
Rob  Roy? 

'That  he  shall  take  who  has  the  power 
And  he  shall  hold  who  can?' 

I  ask  is  it  possible  that  we  shall  sit  here  debating  whether  we 
shall  pass  a  resolution  opposing  coercion ?"3q  Speech  of  Hon. 
John  T.  Thornton,  31  delegate  from  Prince  Edward  County,  in 
Convention,  March  5,  1861 — Richmond  Enquirer,  March  7,  1861. 

Princess  Anne: 

"If  he  wants  to  preserve  peace,  so  do  I;  if  he  wants  to  pre- 
vent war,  he  had  better  not  delay;  if  he  wants  to  preserve  the 
Union  in  the  integrity  of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States, 
so  do  I.  I  hate  the  hater  that  hates  the  Union.  I  tell  him  that 
if  he  wants  to  save  the  Union,  and  restore  it,  he  had  better  do  it 

and  honorable  career  in  public  life,  representing  his  district  in  Congress 
1847-49  and  serving  as  Secretary  of  the  Navy  under  President  Tyler,  1849-50. 
He  was  later  a  member  of  the  Confederate  Congress  and  was  regarded  as  one 
of  the  most  brilliant  orators  of  the  State. 

30The  term  "coercion"  needs  a  word  of  explanation — since  it  occurs  many 
times  in  the  debates  of  the  Virginia  Convention  and  in  the  resolutions  of 
that  time.  The  Federal  policy  of  "coercion,"  in  a  word,  was  understood  to 
be  the  determined  purpose  of  the  Administration  to  prevent  a  peaceful  seces- 
sion of  the  Southern  States  and,  if  need  be,  to  force— that  is  to  coerce — them 
to  remain  in  the  Union,  or  to  return  to  the  Union  after  they  had  passed  acts 
of  secession.  To  this  policy,  of  course,  the  Virginia  Legislature  and  Con- 
vention were  unalterably  opposed,  believing  as  they  did  that  the  right  of 
secession  was  vested  in  the  sovereign  power  of  the  State  and  was  admitted  in 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

31Thornton  was  an  ardent  secessionist  and  a  very  brilliant  orator.  His 
speech  on  April  16  in  secret  session  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  greatest  efforts 
of  the  Convention. 


64  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


quickly,  and  the  way  to  do  it  rests,  now,  now,  now,  upon  the 
shoulders  of  Virginia.  Let  her  take  a  stand  on  her  ultimatum 
that  not  one  right  of  hers  should  be  impaired;  that  every  right 
of  hers  should  be  protected;  that  those  who  assail  them,  assail 
them  at  the  peril  of  the  sword,  sink  or  swim,  live  or  die."  Speech 
of  Henry  A.  Wise,  32  delegate  from  Princess  Anne  County, 
in  Convention,  February  15,  1861 — Richmond  Enquirer,  Feb- 
ruary 16,  1861. 

City  of  Richmond: 

"If  force  be  employed  against  the  States  who  have  gone 
out  of  the  Union,  it  should  and  must  be  resisted.  Force  is 
not  among  the  means  of  composing  the  controversy.  It  is  not 
appropriate  or  adequate  to  any  legitimate  or  desirable  end. 
Should  the  government  perversely  attempt  it,  the  fable  of 
shearing  the  wolf  would  fitly  illustrate  the  folly  and  wantonness 
of  her  counsels.  The  States  should  be  brought  back,  if  haply 
they  may,  by  concessions  alone."  Extract  from  card  of  Wm. 
H.  MacFarland  in  reference  to  his  candidacy  for  convention — 
Richmond  Enquirer,  January  26,  1861. 

4 'To  the  doctrine  of  coercion  I  am  unalterably  opposed,  be- 
cause no  government  which  is  sustained  by  force  can  be  the 
government  of  a  free,  republican  people."  Extract  from  card 
of  Marmaduke  Johnson,  33  a  delegate  elect  from  the  city  of 
Richmond — Richmond  Dispatch,  January  26,  1861. 

32Henry  A.  Wise  is  too  well  known  to  need  notation  in  this  Annual.  For 
twenty  years  and  more  he  was  continually  before  the  people  of  Virginia,  and  by 
his  rare  personality,  great  ability  and  frenzied  oratory,  was  known  throughout 
the  country.  Wise  was  born  in  Accomac  County,  December  3,  1806,  grad- 
uated at  Washington  College,  Pennsylvania,  studied  law  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1828.  He  entered  politics  in  a  few  years  and  served  in  Con- 
gress from  1833  to  1844,  resigning  in  the  latter  year  to  accept  a  position  as 
Minister  to  Brazil.  In  1855  he  was  elected  Governor  of  Virginia  after  a 
memorable  campaign,  and  as  chief  executive  of  the  State  was  in  charge  of 
the  military  arrangements  at  the  time  of  the  John  Brown  Raid.  Elected  to 
the  Secession  Convention  he  adopted  a  policy  of  "fighting  in  the  Union," 
but  was  a  redoubtable  champion  of  Southern  rights.  He  served  later  as 
Brigadier-General  of  the  Confederate  Army  and  commanded  a  fine  brigade. 

33These  two  cards  were  written  by  conservative  men  who  appealed  to  the 
people  of  Richmond  for  election  to  the  Convention  on  the  platforms  here 


J 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.     .  65 


Wythe  County: 

"That  in  the  unanimous  opinion  of  this  meeting,  Virginia 
will  not  submit  to  coercion  on  the  part  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment of  any  seceding  State  and  we  regard  the  collection  of 
the  revenue  claimed  to  be  due  from  the  seceding  States,  by 
force,  and  the  possession  of  the  forts  in  said  States,  by  force  of 
arms,  as  coercion,  and  we  will  resist,  to  the  last  extremity,  any 
coercive  policy  to  which  the  Federal  Administration  may  choose 
to  resort  in  respect  to  any  or  all  of  these  matters."  Extract 
from  resolutions  adopted  at  a  meeting  of  citizens  of  Wythe 
County,  March  11,  1861,  presented  to  Convention  by  Hon. 
Robert  C.  Kent, ™  delegate  from  Wythe,  March  14,  1861 — 
Richmond  Enquirer,  March  15,  1861. 

outlined.  They  were  both  elected  and  upheld  the  position  originally  assumed 
by  them.  Both  threw  in  their  lot  with  the  South  when  Lincoln  declared  war 
on  that  section. 

34  Robert  C.  Kent,  of  Wythe,  was  for  many  years  a  leader  in  politics  in 
the  Southwest  and  served  at  one  time  as  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Virginia. 


66  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL 


OLD  BLACK  JOE. 

Gone  are  the  days  when  my  heart  was  young  and  gay; 
Gone  are  my  friends  from  the  cotton  fields  away; 
Gone  from  the  earth  to  a  better  land  I  know, 
I  hear  their  gentle  voices  calling  "Old  Black  Joel" 

Chorus. 

Tm  coming,  Tm  coming,  For  my  head  is  bending  low; 
I  hear  those  gentle  voices  calling,  "Old  Black  Joe!" 

Why  do  I  weep  when  my  heart  should  feel  no  pain? 
Why  do  I  sigh  that  my  friends  come  not  again? 
Grieving  for  forms  now  departed  long  ago, 
I  hear  their  gentle  voices  calling,  "Old  Black  Joe!" 

Where  are  the  hearts  once  so  happy  and  so  free? 
The  children  so  dear  that  I  held  upon  my  knee? 
Gone  to  the  shore  where  my  soul  has  longed  to  go, 
I  hear  their  gentle  voices  calling,  "Old  Black  Joe'" 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  67 


FORT  SUMTER. 3s 
Hon.  Geo.  L.  Christian. 

Fort  Sumter,  as  is  well  known,  is  the  principal  fort  near  the 
center  of  the  harbor  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  It  was 
built  by  the  United  States  Government  upon  property  ceded  to  it 
by  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  to  be  held  in  trust,  primarily 
for  the  defence  of  the  City  of  Charleston  and  its  harbor;  and, 
under  the  power  of  what  is  known  as  Eminent  Domain,  the 
State  of  South  Carolina  had  the  right-to  demand  the  recession  of 
that  property  whenever  it  deemed  it  necessary  for  its  use  or 
protection,  upon  the  condition  of  repaying  to  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  what  it  had  expended  in  the  erection  of  that 
fort. 

South  Carolina  seceded  from  the  Federal  Union  on  the  20th 
of  December,  1860.  Within  a  few  days  after  the  Convention 
passed  the  ordinance  of  secession,  commissioners  were  sent  by 
the  State  to  the  Federal  Government  at  Washington  offering  to 
pay  the  Federal  Government  for  whatever  it  had  expended  in 
the  erection  of  Fort  Sumter,  and  generally  to  settle  the  financial 
affairs  between  that  State  and  the  Federal  Government  peaceably 
and  on  a  fair  and  equitable  basis. 

The  administration  of  James  Buchanan,  then  the  President, 
whilst  declining  to  treat  with  these  commissioners,  on  the  ground 
that  it  did  not  recognize  the  right  of  a  State  to  withdraw  from  the 
Union,  also  took  the  further  position  that  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment had  no  power  under  the  constitution  to  attempt  to  coerce  a 

35  The  war  was  about  to  be  precipitated,  and  the  exact  significance  of  the 
attack  on  Sumter,  as  outlined  here,  should  be  kept  in  mind.  Knowing  that 
the  right  of  secession  was  maintained  in  the  Constitution,  and  in  a  long  series 
of  public  acts  and  official  declarations,  Virginia  was  conscious  that  the  slavery 
question  was  not  the  real  issue  of  the  war.  The  State,  moreover,  bound  to 
the  Union  by  many  ties  of  blood  and  sacrifice,  had  expressed  her  determina- 
tion not  to  secede  so  long  as  there  was  hope  of  restoring  the  Union  and  so 
long  as  no  attack  was  made  on  the  South  by  the  Federal  Administration. 
Slowly  through  the  weeks,  the  prospect  of  restoring  the  Union  had  grown 
dimmer,  but  Virginia  still  waited  and  hoped.  Finally,  the  Federal  Admin- 
istration, under  the  guise  of  provisioning  Fort  Sumter,  began  aggressive 
action  against  the  South.  This  led  to  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  as  veritable 
an  act  of  self-defense  as  history  records. 


68  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


State  which  had  so  withdrawn.  Up  to  the  night  of  December 
26,  1860,  Fort  Sumter  was  not  garrisoned  by  troops,  and  it  was 
claimed  on  the  part  of  the  representatives  of  the  State  of  South 
Carolina  that  President  Buchanan  had  entered  into  a  compact 
with  them,  on  December  9,  1860,  whereby  the  garrison  of  Fed- 
eral troops  then  occupying  Fort  Moultrie  opposite  Fort  Sumter, 
under  Major  Robert  Anderson,  should  remain  unchanged  as 
to  the  "military  status"  then  in  existence. 

On  the  night  of  December  26,  1860,  Major  Anderson,  without 
notice  to  the  authorities  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  which 
had  then  seceded,  evacuated  Fort  Moultrie,  spiked  its  guns  and 
took  possession  of  and  occupied  Fort  Sumter,  which  was  a  much 
stronger  and  larger  fort.  This  action  of  Major  Anderson  greatly 
irritated  the  people  and  the  authorities  of  South  Carolina,  who 
regarded  it  as  a  violation  of  the  compact  between  them  and  Mr. 
Buchanan,  that  "no  reinforcements  should  be  sent  into  those 
forts  and  their  military  status  should  remain  as  at  present." 

Upon  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Moultrie  by  Major  Anderson 
and  his  troops,  that  fort  as  well  as  Sullivan's  Island  and  Castle 
Pinckney,  all  three  of  which  are  fortifications  for  the  defence  of 
the  harbor  of  Charleston,  were  occupied  by  troops  of  the  States 
of  South  Carolina  and  considerably  strengthened. 

Early  in  January,  1861,  the  Federal  Government  sent  a  war 
vessel,  the  "Star  of  the  West,"  with  troops  and  provisions,  for 
the  purpose  of  reinforcing  and  supplying  Fort  Sumter.  When 
this  war  vessel  attempted  to  enter  the  port  of  Charleston,  she 
was  fired  upon  by  the  batteries  manned  by  South  Carolina 
troops  in  Fort  Moultrie,  whereupon  she  retired. 

There  was  necessarily  great  irritation  on  the  part  of  the  people 
of  South  Carolina,  growing  out  of  the  fact  that  Fort  Sumter, 
which  had  been  built  primarily  for  the  protection  of  the  people 
of  that  State,  remained  in  possession  of  what  they  regarded 
as  foreign  and  hostile  hands. 

The  secession  of  South  Carolina,  on  December  20,  1860,  was 
followed  by  that'of  six  other  Southern  States  during  the  month 
of  January,  1861,  up  to  February  4th,  1861,  and  on  the  latter 
date  these  seven  Southern  States,  viz.,  South  Carolina,  Florida, 
Alabama,  Georgia,  Louisiana,  Mississippi  and  Texas,  sent  their 
representatives  to  Montgomery,  Alabama,  and  inaugurated  the 
government  of  the  "Confederate  States  of  America,"  with 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  69 


Montgomery  as  its  capital.  These  representatives,  as  they  were 
authorized  by  their  respective  States  to  do,  formed  a  provisional 
government  and  adopted  a  constitution  similar  in  all  essential 
respects  to  the  government  and  constitution  of  the  United  States, 
and  they  elected  Jefferson  Davis  of  Mississippi  as  President, 
and  Alexander  H.  Stephens  of  Georgia  as  Vice-President  of  the 
Confederate  States  of  America. 

It  is  apparent  from  the  resolutions  of  the  legislatures  and 
conventions  of  these  several  States  before,  and  in  their  several 
acts  of,  secession,  and  from  the  acts  of  the  new  confederation 
at  Montgomery,  as  well  as  from  the  inaugural  address  of  Presi- 
dent Davis,  that  it  was  the  earnest  desire  of  the  people  of  the 
South,  and  of  their  representatives  at  Montgomery,  that  the 
withdrawal  of  these  States  from  the  Federal  Government  should 
be  accomplished  peacefully,  and  to  carry  into  effect  the  organiza- 
tion and  establishment  of  their  new  government  peacefully  and 
harmoniously  in  all  respects, 

Among  the  first  acts  of  the  Confederate  Government  was  to 
send  three  commissioners  to  Washington  to  treat  with  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  Federal  Government  "with  a  view  to  a 
speedy  adjustment  of  all  questions  growing  out  of  this  political 
separation  upon  such  terms  of  amity  and  good-will  as  the 
respective  interests,  geographical  contiguity  and  future  welfare 
of  the  two  nations  may  render  necessary." 

The  administration  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  had  been 
elected  President  of  the  United  States  at  the  election  held  in 
November,  1860,  solely  by  the  votes  of  the  people  of  the  north- 
ern States,  and  by  a  vote  of  nearly  a  million  less  than  was  cast 
for  the  other  three  candidates,  viz.,  John  Bell  of  Tennessee, 
John  C.  Breckinridge  of  Kentucky,  and  Stephen  A.  Douglas  of 
Illinois,  began  on  March  4,  1861.  On  March  12,  1861,  two  of 
these  commissioners  sent  by  the  Confederate  Government,  hav- 
ing reached  Washington,  sent  a  communication  to  Mr.  William 
H.  Seward,  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  Lincoln  administration, 
requesting  of  him  an  interview  for  the  adjustment,  on  "terms 
of  amity  and  good-will,"  of  the  affairs  between  the  Federal 
Government  and  that  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America. 
Mr.  Seward  declined  to  receive  the  commissioners,  or  to  treat 
with  them  directly  at  all,  but  he  did  treat  with  them  indirectly 
through  Justices  Nelson  of  New  York  and  Campbell  of  Alabama, 


70  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


members  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  These 
commissioners  from  the  Government  of  the  Confederate  States 
were  especially  desirous  of  having  the  troops  then  occupying 
Fort  Sumter  in  Charleston  harbor  and  Fort  Pickens  in  the 
harbor  of  Pensacola,  Florida,  withdrawn — those  in  the  other 
forts  lying  within  the  limits  of  the  seceded  States  having  been 
already  withdrawn. 

Mr.  Seward,  it  seems,  assured  Justices  Nelson  and  Campbell 
that  Fort  Sumter  would  be  evacuated  within  a  very  short  period 
of  time;  indeed,  he  said  this  would  be  done  before  Judge  Camp- 
bell could  write  a  letter  to  President  Davis  stating  this  fact  and 
receive  a  reply  thereto.  Mr.  Seward,  through  the  intervention 
of  Judge  Campbell,  kept  these  Confederate  commissioners  wait- 
ing in  suspense  at  Washington  from  March  12  th  to  April  8th, 
1861,  without  giving  them  any  definite  reply  to  their  request 
that  Fort  Sumter  should  be  evacuated;  but  during  that  inter- 
val he  sent  them  assurances,  with  the  knowledge  of  Mr.  Lincoln, 
that  Fort  Sumter  would  be  evacuated,  and  as  late  as  April  7th, 
1861,  he  replied  to  a  letter  from  Judge  Campbell — 

"Faith  as  to  Sumter  fully  kept;  wait  and  see." 

During  the  interval  of  twenty-seven  days  while  the  com- 
missioners were  kept  in  waiting  at  Washington  for  an  answer  to 
their  request  for  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter,  the  President, 
Mr.  Lincoln,  sent  two  emissaries,  one  a  Mr.  Fox,  afterwards 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  the  other  Colonel  Ward 
H.  Lamon,  a  close  and  confidential  friend  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  to 
Charleston,  and  these  two  men  were  allowed  to  visit  Major 
Anderson  in  Fort  Sumter  upon  their  solemn  pledges,  given  to 
Governor  Pickens  of  South  Carolina,  that  nothing  hostile  to  the 
Confederate  Government,  or  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  should 
take  place  between  them  and  Major  Anderson.  What  was  done, 
we  do  not  undertake  to  state,  but  we  do  know  that  during  the 
time  Mr.  Seward  kept  the  Confederate  commissioners  in  sus- 
pense under  promises  to  them,  made  through  Judges  Campbell 
and  Nelson,  that  Fort  Sumter  would  be  evacuated,  and  which 
he  did,  as  he  states,  with  the  knowledge  and  approval  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  a  "relief  squadron,"  with  eleven  ships  carrying 
285  guns  and  2,400  men  was  equipped  and  sent  out  from  New 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  71 


York  and  Norfolk  with  orders  to  reinforce  Fort  Sumter,  peace- 
ably if  permitted,  "but  forcibly  if  they  must." 

On  the  11th  of  April,  1861,  when  this  relief  squadron  had 
reached  the  offing  of  Charleston  harbor,  General  G.  T. 
Beauregard,  commanding  the  Confederate  forces  at  Charleston, 
demanded  of  Major  Robert  Anderson  the  surrender  or  evacua- 
tion of  Fort  Sumter.  This  demand  Major  Anderson  refused 
in  writing  to  comply  with,  but  added  verbally  to  the  messen- 
ger who  bore  his  reply  to  General  Beauregard,  "I  will  await 
the  first  shot,  and  if  you  do  not  batter  us  to  pieces,  we  will  be 
starved  out  in  a  few  days." 

Major  Anderson's  written  refusal,  as  well  as  the  verbal  remark 
above  quoted,  were  forthwith  communicated  by  General  Beaure- 
%-gard  to  the  Confederate  Secretary  of  War  at  Montgomery,  who 
immediately  returned  the  following  response: 

"Do  not  desire  needlessly  to  bombard  Fort  Sumter.  If  Major  Ander- 
son will  state  the  time  at  which,  as  indicated  by  himself,  he  will  evacuate, 
and  agree  that  in  the  meantime  he  will  not  use  his  guns  against  us,  unless 
ours  should  be  employed  against  Fort  Sumter,  you  are  authorized  thus 
to  avoid  the  effusion  of  blood.  If  this,  or  its  equivalent,  be  refused, 
reduce  the  Fort  as  your  judgment  decides  most  practicable." 

These  directions  from  the  Confederate  Secretary  of  War 
were  communicated  by  General  Beauregard  to  Major  Ander- 
son, but  he  refused  to  consent  to  any  such  arrangement.  The 
"Relief  Squadron"  had  by  this  time  arrived  at  the  mouth  of 
Charleston  harbor,  and  General  Beauregard,  seeing  that  his 
forces  were  threatened  with  an  attack  both  in  their  front  and 
rear,  at  4:30  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  12th  of  April,  1861, 
opened  fire  on  Fort  Sumter,  which  fire  was  returned.  The 
bombardment  lasted  for  thirty-two  hours,  when  at  last  Major 
Anderson  agreed  to  capitulate,  and  the  entire  garrison,  number- 
ing eighty  in  all,  officers  and  men,  were  permitted  to  march  out 
with  their  colors  and  music  and  to  salute  their  flag  with  fifty 
guns.  All  private,  as  well  as  company  property,  was  also  al- 
lowed to  be  taken  by  those  to  whom  it  belonged.  Providentially, 
not  a  life  was  lost  in  this  memorable  combat. 

Because  of  the  fact  that  the  Confederates  fired  the  first  gun 
in  their  attempt  to  reduce  Fort  Sumter,  it  is  claimed  by  the 
people  of  the  North  that  they  thereby  inaugurated  the  war 


72  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


which  then  ensued  between  the  North  and  the  South.  Mr. 
Hallam,  in  his  constitutional  history  of  England,  says: 

"The  aggressor  in  a  war"  (i.  e.,  he  who  begins  it)  "is  not  the  first  who 
uses  force,  but  the  first  who  renders  force  necessary." 

We  think  this  a  perfectly  sound  principle,  and  that  it  is  demon- 
strable by  Northern  testimony  of  the  highest  character  that  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  under  Abraham  Lincoln  as 
its  President,  was  the  inaugurator  of  the  war  between  the  North 
and  the  South,  and  that  the  aggressions  begun  by  the  North, 
by  the  Federal  Government  and  Mr.  Lincoln,  necessitated  the 
firing  on  Fort  Sumter  by  the  Confederate  forces  under  General 
Beauregard.  In  other  words,  that  when  the  so-called  "Relief 
Squadron,"  sent  out  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  started  from  New  York 
and  Norfolk,  with  orders  to  reinforce  Sumter,  "forcibly  if  neces- 
sary," then  the  first  blow  was,  in  effect,  if  not  in  reality,  struck 
inaugurating  the  war. 

Senator  Stephen  A.  Douglas  of  Illinois,  who  could  never 
have  been  accused  of  sympathizing  with  the  South,  said: 

"I  take  it  for  granted  that  whoever  permanently  holds  Charleston  and 
South  Carolina  is  entitled  to  the  possession  of  Fort  Sumter." 

And,  of  course,  this  was  the  view  of  the  people  and  authorities 
of  the  Confederate  States. 

For  many  years  prior  to  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  people 
of  the  North  had  been  guilty  of  flagrant  violations  of  the  Fugi- 
tive Slave  Law.  Fourteen  Northern  States  had  gone  to  the 
length  of  nullification  by  the  passage  of  what  were  known  as 
"personal  liberty  acts",  and  had  refused  not  only  to  comply  with 
the  express  terms  of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  but 
to  obey  the  mandate  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  construction 
of  that  instrument. 

General  John  A.  Logan,  afterwards  a  Major-General  in  the 
Federal  Army,  a  United  States  Senator  and  a  candidate  for  the 
vice-presidency  on  the  Republican  ticket,  said  on  the  5th  of 
January,  1861 : 

"The  Abolitionists  of  the  North  have  constantly  warred  on  the  Southern 
institutions,  and  by  their  denunciations  and  lawless  acts  *  *  have 
driven  the  people  of  the  Southern  States  to  a  sleepless  vigilance  for  the 
protection  of  their  property  and  the  protection  of  their  rights." 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  73 


The  "Albany  Argus"  of  November  10th,  1860,  said: 

» 

"We  sympathize  with  and  justify  the  South.  *  *  Their  rights 
have  been  invaded  to  the  extreme  limit  possible  within  the  forms  of  the 
Constitution,  and  beyond  that  limit,  and  rightly  impelled  them  to  resort 
to  revolution  and  a  separation  from  the  Union." 

The  "Rochester  Union"  a  few  days  later  said: 

"The  North  has  led  the  way,  and  for  a  period  has  been  the  sole  of- 
fender and  aggressor." 

Mr.  Williams,  a  Massachusetts  writer,  says: 

"The  South  was  invaded  and  a  war  of  subjugation,  destined  to  be  the 
most  gigantic  which  the  world  has  ever  seen,  was  begun  by  the  Federal 
Government  against  the  seceded  States." 

And  Mr.  Lincoln  himself  said: 

'  'After  Boston,  Chicago  was  the  chief  instrument  in  bringing  this  war 
on  the  country." 

And  these  are  only  a  few  of  the  many  statements  which  could 
be  cited  from  Northern  sources  to  the  same  effect.  On  the 
other  hand,  as  we  have  stated,  the  whole  contemporaneous  his- 
tory of  the  Confederate  Government  shows,  in  the  most  satis- 
factory manner,  that  it  longed  for  peace,  and  was  willing  and 
anxious  to  make  all  reasonable  sacrifices  to  attain  that  end. 
The  "New  York  Herald"  of  April 7th,  1861,  says: 

"President  Davis  is  determined  that  this  administration  (Lincoln's) 
shall  not  place  him  in  a  false  position  by  making  it  appear  to  the  world 
that  the  South  was  the  aggressor.  This  has  been,  and  still  is,  the 
policy  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  It  will  not  be  successful.  Unless  Mr.  Lin- 
coln makes  the  first  demonstration  and  attack,  President  Davis  says 
there  will  be  no  collision  or  blood-shed.  With  the  Lincoln  administra- 
tion, therefore,  rests  the  responsibility  of  precipitating  a  collision  and 
the  fearful  evils  of  protracted  civil  war." 


74 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


THE  ACT  OF  SECESSION. 
Calling  Out  the  Militia. 

Whereas  the  laws  of  the  United  States  have  been  for  some 
time  past,  and  now  are  opposed,  and  the  execution  thereof  ob- 
structed, in  the  States  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama, 
Florida,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  Texas,  by  combinations  too 
powerful  to  be  suppressed  by  the  ordinary  course  of  judicial  pro- 
ceedings, or  by  the  powers  vested  in  the  marshals  by  law: 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United 
States,  in  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  by  the  Constitution 
and  the  laws,  have  thought  fit  to  call  forth,  and  hereby  do  call 
forth,  the  militia  of  the  several  States  of  the  Union,  to  the 
aggregate  number  of  seventy-five  thousand,  in  order  to  suppress 
said  combinations,  and  to  cause  the  laws  to  be  duly  executed. 

The  details  for  this  object  will  be  immediately  communicated 
to  the  State  authorities  through  the  War  Department. 

I  appeal  to  all  loyal  citizens  to  favor,  facilitate,  and  aid  this 
effort  to  maintain  the  honor,  the  integrity,  and  the  existence  of 
our  National  Union,  and  the  perpetuity  of  popular  government; 
and  to  redress  wrongs  already  long  enough  endured. 

I  deem  it  proper  to  say  that  the  first  service  assigned  to  the 
forces  hereby  called  forth  will  probably  be  to  repossess  the  forts, 
places,  and  property  which  have  been  seized  from  the  Union; 
and  in  every  event  the  utmost  care  will  be  observed,  consist- 
ent with  the  objects  aforesaid,  to  avoid  any  devastation,  any 
destruction  of,  or  interference  with  property,  or  any  disturbance 
of  peaceful  citizens  in  any  part  of  the  country. 

And  I  hereby  command  the  persons  composing  the  combina- 
tions aforesaid,  to  disperse  and  retire  peacefully  to  their  respec- 
tive abodes  within  twenty  days  from  date. 

Deeming  that  the  present  condition  of  public  affairs  presents 
an  extraordinary  occasion,  I  do  hereby,  in  virtue  of  the  power 
in  me  vested  by  the  Constitution,  convene  both  Houses  of  Con- 
gress. Senators  and  Representatives  are  therefore  summoned 
.to  assemble  at  their  respective  chambers  at  twelve  o'clock  noon, 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  75 


on  Thursday,  the  fourth  day  of  July  next,  then  and  there  to 
consider  and  determine  such  measures  as,  in  their  wisdom,  the 
public  safety  and  interest  may  seem  to  demand. 

In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  15th  day  of  April,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-one, 
and  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States  the  eighty-fifth. 

By  the  President: 

Abraham  Lincoln. 3 6 
Wm.  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State. 
Abraham  Lincoln's  Complete  Works,  edited  by  John  G.  Nicolay 
and  John  Hay.    1907.    v.  2.  p.  34. 

Governor  Letcher's  Reply  to  the  Secretary  of  War 
in  Reference  to  President  Lincoln's  Call  for 
Troops  with  which  to  Conquer  the  Seceding  States. 

''I  have  only  to  say  that  the  militia  of  Virginia  will  not  be 
furnished  to  the  powers  at  Washington  for  any  such  use  or  pur- 
pose as  they  have  in  view.  Your  object  is  to  subjugate  the 
Southern  States  and  the  requisition  made  upon  me  for  such  an 
object — an  object  in  my  judgment  not  within  the  purview  of 

36The  attack  on  Fort  Sumter  described  by  Judge  Christian  removed  the 
last  hope  of  peaceable  solution.  Virginia  had  done  all  in  her  power  and  at 
the  very  time  of  the  attack  on  Sumter  was  sending  her  representatives  to 
Washington  to  seek  an  interview  with  President  Lincoln  in  the  hope  of  getting 
some  assurance  that  the  Federal  Administration  would  not  precipitate  hos- 
tilities. In  the  midst  of  wild  demonstrations  of  popular  sympathy  with  the 
South,  in  Richmond  and  elsewhere,  the  Virginia  Convention  exhausted  the 
last  means  of  averting  hostilities.  When,  however,  Lincoln  called  out  the 
militia  and  demanded  that  Virginia  send  troops  to  attack  her  sister  States  of 
the  South,  the  Commonwealth  could  no  longer  hesitate.  The  proclamation 
quoted  was  followed  by  Governor  Letcher's  reply  and  on  April  17,  by  the 
Ordinance  of  Secession.  Virginia  had  no  other  course  then  to  pursue.  As 
much  as  she  loved  the  Union,  as  much  as  she  was  willing  to  sacrifice  for  it, 
she  could  not  and  would  not  join  hands  with  a  hostile  North  in  attacking  the 
Southern  States  which  had  exercised  a  right  reserved  by  the  Constitution, 
maintained  through  the  years  and  upheld  by  Virginia  herself. 


76  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


the  Constitution  or  of  the  act  of  1795,  will  not  be  complied  with. 
You  have  chosen  to  inaugurate  civil  war;  and  having  done  so, 
we  will  meet  you  in  a  spirit  as  determined  as  the  Administra- 
tion has  exhibited  toward  the  South." — American  Conflict,  Gree- 
ley, v.  1,  p.  459. 

An  Ordinance  to  repeal  the  ratification  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  by  the  State  of  Virginia,  and 
to  resume  all  the  rights  and  powers  granted  under  said 
Constitution. — [April  17,  1861.' 

The  people  of  Virginia,  in  the  ratification  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  adopted  by  them  in  Conven- 
tion on  the  25th  day  of  June,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  and  eighty-eight,  having  declared  that  the 
powers  granted  under  the  said  Constitution  were  derived  fiom 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  might  be  resumed  when- 
soever the  same  should  be  perverted  to  their  injury  and  oppression, 
and  the  Federal  Government  having  perverted  said  powers,  not 
only  to  the  injury  of  the  people  of  Virginia,  but  to  the  oppres- 
sion of  the  Southern  slaveholding  States, 

Now,  therefore,  we,  the  people  of  Virginia,  do  declare  and 
ordain,  that  the  Ordinance  adopted  by  the  people  of  this  State 
in  Convention  on  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  June  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-eight,  whereby 
the  Constitution  of  the  LTnited  States  of  America  was  ratified, 
and  all  acts  of  the  General  Assembly  of  this  State  ratifying  or 
adopting  amendments  to  said  Constitution,  are  hereby  repealed 
and  abrogated,  that  the  union  between  the  State  of  Virginia  and 
the  other  States  under  the  Constitution,  aforesaid,  is  hereby 
dissolved,  and  that  the  State  of  Virginia  is  in  full  possession  and 
exercise  of  all  the  rights  of  sovereignty  which  belong  and  apper- 
tain to  a  free  and  independent  State,  and  they  do  further  declare 
the  said  Constitution  of  the  L'nited  States  of  America  no  longer 
binding  on  any  of  the  citizens  of  the  State. 

This  Ordinance  shall  take  effect  and  be  an  Act  of  this  day, 
when  ratified  by  a  majority  of  the  votes  of  the  people  cast  at  a 
poll  to  be  taken  thereon,  on  the  fourth  Thursday  in  May  next, 
in  pursuance  of  a  schedule  hereafter  to  be  enacted. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


77 


Done  in  Convention  in  the  City  of  Richmond,  on  the  seven- 
teenth day  of  April,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty-one,  and  in  the  eighty-fifth  year  of  the  Com- 
monwealth of  Virginia. 37 

W.  M.  Ambler* 

E.  M.  Armstrong 
Wm.  B.  Aston* 
John  B.  Baldwin 
George  Baylor 
Miers  W.  Fisher* 

Wm.  Hamilton  Macfarland* 

Hugh  M.  Nelson 

Johnson  Orrick* 

Logan  Osburn 

Wm.  C.  Parks* 

Wm.  Ballard  Preston* 

Wm.  Campbell  Scott* 

Jno.  M.  Speed* 

John  T.  Thornton* 

Sam'l  Woods* 

Jno.  J.  Kindred* 

Henry  L.  Gillespie* 

F.  M.  Cabell* 
S.  L.  Graham* 
Sam'l  M.  Garland* 
George  W.  Richardson* 
Henry  A.  Wise* 

J.  T.  Martin 
Alfred  M.  Barbour 
Jas.  Barbour* 
Edw'd.  N.  Chambers 
Geo.  Blow,  Jr.* 
James  Boisseau* 
Peter  B.  Borst* 
Wood  Bouldin* 

37The  vote  on  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  was  taken  on  the  afternoon  of 
April  17  at  4:15;  eighty-eight  votes  were  registered  in  the  affirmative  and 
fifty-five  in  the  negative.  Twenty-one  of  those  who  did  not  vote  for  the 
Ordinance  at  the  time  of  its  adoption  were  later  permitted  to  sign  it.  Those 
who  voted  originally  in  the  affirmative  are  marked  with  an  asterisk. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


Wm.  W.  Boyd* 

James  C.  Bruce* 

Benjamin  W.  Byrne 

Thos.  Stanhope  Flournoy* 

William  W.  Forbes* 

John  T.  Seawell* 

Geo.  P.  Tayloe* 

Wm.  M.  Tredway* 

Ben.  F.  Wysor* 

Harvey  Deskins* 

Geo.  W.  Hull 

W.  T.  Sutherlin* 

Jas.  W.  Hoge 

Robert  C.  Kent* 

R.  E.  Grant 

Richard  H.  Cox* 

Stephen  A.  Morgan 

James  Marshall 

A.  T.  Caperton* 

Thos.  Branch* 

W.  P.  Cecil* 

John  A.  Campbell* 

John  R.  Chambliss,  Jr. 

Sam'l  A.  Coffman* 

R.  M.  Conn* 

C.  B.  Conrad 

Robt.  Y.  Conrad 

John  Critcher 

Sam'l  Price 

Timothy  Rives* 

Charles  R.  Slaughter* 

Alexr.  H.  H.  Stuart 

Robt.  H.  Turner* 

James  H.  Cox* 

Samuel  G.  Staples* 

James  W.  Sheffey* 

George  W.  Randolph* 

James  Lawson* 

Andrew  Parks 

Thos.  Maslin 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


Edw.  D.  McGuire 
John  A.  Robinson 
C.  J.  P.  Cresap 
James  B.  Dorman* 
Jubal  A.  Early 
Napoleon  B.  French* 
Colbert  C.  Fugate 
Peyton  Gravely 
Fendall  Gregory,  Jr.* 
Addison  Hall 
Cyrus  Hall* 
F.  B.  Miller* 
Horatio  G.  Moffett* 
David  Pugh 
Peter  Saunders,  Sr. 
V.  W.  Southall* 
John  Tyler* 
Ro.  H.  Whitfield* 

J  AS.  G.  HOLLADY 

Henry  H,  Masters 
Jeremiah  Morton* 
Thomas  F.  Goode* 
George  Wm.  Brent 
Wm.  H.  B.  Custis 
W.  P.  Cooper 
Robt.  E.  Cowan 
Wm.  L.  Goggin* 
John  Goode,  Jr.* 
Fielden  L.  Hale* 
James  P.  Holcombe* 
Jno.  N.  Hughes* 
Lewis  D.  Isbell* 
Walter  D.  Leake* 
Chas.  K.  Mallory* 
J.  B.  Mallory* 
Jno.  L.  Marye* 
R.  E.  Scott* 
J.  D.  Sharp 

James  Magruder  Strange* 
Wms.  C.  Wickham 


80 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


Wm.  H.  Dulaney 
John  Armistead  Carter 
M.  R.  H.  Garnett 
Manilius  Chapman* 
G.  W.  Berlin 
Thomas  Sitlington 
Franklin  P.  Turner* 
J.  M.  Heck 
Eppa  Hunton* 
John  Janney 

Presdt.  Convention  and  delegate  from  Loudoun. 

Leonard  S.  Hall* 
Allen  C.  Hammond 
Lewis  E.  Harvie* 
Alpheus  F.  Haymond 
Peter  C.  Johnson* 
John  R.  Kilby 
Paul  McNeil 
Robert  L.  Montague* 
Edmund  Taylor  Morris* 
S.  McD.  Moore 
John  Q.  Marr 
Wm.  J.  Neblett* 
Edward  Waller* 
Sam'l  C.  Williams* 
Marmaduke  Johnson* 
Wm.  White 
Algernon  S.  Gray 
Jas.  V.  Brooke 
Angus  R.  Blakey* 
J  no.  Echols* 

BURWELL  SPURLOCK 

J.  B.  Young 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  81 


Virginia  Chooses  Her  Leader.38 

Executive  Department,  April  22,  1861. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Convention: — I  hereby  nominate,  and  with 
your  advice  and  consent,  appoint  Colonel  Robert  E.  Lee,  to 
the  office  of  Commander  of  the  Military  and  Naval  forces  of 
the  State  of  Virginia,  with  the  rank  of  Major  General.  Talent, 
experience  and  devotion  to  the  interests  of  Virginia,  fit  him  in  an 
eminent  degree  for  the  exalted  position  he  is  nominated  to  fill. 

It  affords  me  pleasure  to  assure  you  upon  undoubted  testi- 
mony, that  his  resignation  as  an  officer  of  the  Army  of  the 
United  States,  was  determined  upon,  before  the  passage  of  your 
ordinance  creating  the  office,  which  it  is  now  proposed  to  fill. 
I  trust  the  nomination  will  meet  your  approbation,  and  that  it 
will  be  your  pleasure  to  receive  him  in  open  Convention  on 
tomorrow. 

Respectfully, 

John  Letcher. 

(Virginia  Convention,  April  23,  1861,  Richmond]. 

Major  General  Lee  entered,  leaning  on  the  arm  of  Mr.  Johnson 
of  Richmond,  chairman  of  the  committee  appointed  to  conduct 
the  distinguished  military  chief  to  the  Hall.  As  they  reached 
the  main  aisle,  Mr.  Johnson  said:  "Mr.  President,  I  have  the 
honor  to  present  to  you  and  to  the  Convention,  Major  General 
Lee." 

38  The  last  step  in  the  secession  of  Virginia  remained  to  be  taken.  Know- 
ing that  she  would  be  the  battle  ground  and  determined  to  do  her  utmost 
for  the  defense  of  the  South,  the  State  began  to  prepare  for  war.  Her  militia 
had  long  been  in  training  and  some  plans  of  self  defense  had  already  been 
formed,  but  it  was  not  until  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  was  adopted  that 
Virginia  took  active  steps.  She  needed  most  of  all  a  leader,  and  when  Gov- 
ernor John  Letcher,  in  the  communication  here  quoted,  nominated  Colonel 
Robert  E.  Lee,  the  people  felt  that  a  proper  leader  had  been  chosen.  General 
Lee's  appointment  at  once  followed  his  nomination;  on  the  next  day  he  was 
formally  introduced  to  the  Convention.  The  proceedings  on  that  memorable 
occasion  are  quoted  in  full. 


82  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


The  President — "Major  General  Lee — In  the  name  of  the 
people  of  your  native  State,  here  represented,  I  bid  you  a  cordial 
and  heartfelt  welcome  to  this  Hall,  in  which  we  may  almost  yet 
hear  the  echo  of  the  voices  of  the  statesmen,  the  soldiers  and 
sages  of  by-gone  days,  who  have  borne  your  name,  and  whose 
blood  now  flows  in  your  veins. 

We  met  in  the  month  of  February  last,  charged  with  the  solemn 
duty  of  protecting  the  rights,  the  honor  and  the  interests  of  the 
people  of  this  Commonwealth.  We  differed  for  a  time  as  to  the 
best  means  of  accomplishing  that  object;  but  there  never  was, 
at  any  moment,  a  shade  of  difference  amongst  us  as  to  the  great 
object  itself ;  and  now,  Virginia  having  taken  her  position,  as  far 
as  the  power  of  this  Convention  extends,  we  stand  animated  by 
one  impulse,  governed  by  one  desire  and  one  determination,  and 
that  is  that  she  shall  be  defended;  and  that  no  spot 'of  her  soil 
shall  be  polluted  by  the  foot  of  an  invader. 

When  the  necessity  became  apparent  of  having  a  leader  for 
our  forces,  all  hearts  and  all  eyes,  by  the  impulse  of  an  instinct 
which  is  a  surer  guide  than  reason  itself,  turned  to  the  old 
county  of  Westmoreland.  We  knew  how  prolific  she  had  been 
in  other  days,  of  heroes  and  statesmen.  We  knew  she  had  given 
birth  to  the  Father  of  His  Country;  to  Richard  Henry  Lee,  to 
Monroe,  and  last,  though  not  least,  to  your  own  gallant  father, 
and  we  knew  well,  by  your  own  deeds,  that  her  productive  power 
was  not  yet  exhausted. 

Sir,  we  watched  with  the  most  profound  and  intense  interest 
the  triumphal  march  of  the  army  led  by  General  Scott,  to  which 
you  were  attached,  from  Vera  Cruz  to  the  Capital  at  Mexico ;  we 
read  of  the  sanguinary  conflicts  and  the  bloodstained  fields,  in  all 
of  which  victory  perched  upon  our  own  banners ;  we  knew  of  the 
unfading  lustre  that  was  shed  upon  the  American  arms  by  that 
campaign;  and  we  know,  also,  what  your  modesty  has  always 
disclaimed,  that  no  small  share  of  the  glory  of  those  achieve- 
ments was  due  to  your  valor  and  your  military  genius. 

Sir,  one  of  the  proudest  recollections  of  my  life  will  be  the 
honor  that  I  yesterday  had  of  submitting  to  this  body  the  con- 
firmation of  the  nomination  made  by  the  Governor  of  this  State, 
of  you  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  military  and  naval  forces 
of  this  Commonwealth.  I  rose  to  put  the  question,  and  when  I 
asked  if  this  body  would  advise  and  consent  to  that  appointment, 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  83 


there  rushed  from  the  hearts  to  the  tongues  of  all  the  members, 
the  affirmative  response  that  told,  with  an  emphasis  that  could 
leave  no  doubt  of  the  feeling  whence  it  emanated.  I  put  the 
negative  of  the  question  for  form's  sake,  but  there  was  an  un- 
broken silence. 

Sir,  we  have,  by  this  unanimous  vote,  expressed  our  con- 
victions that  you  are,  at  this  day,  among  the  living  citizens  of 
Virginia,  "first  in  war."  We  pray  to  God  most  fervently  that 
you  may  so  conduct  the  operations  committed  to  your  charge, 
that  it  will  soon  be  said  of  you,  that  you  are  "first  in  peace," 
and  when  that  time  comes,  you  will  have  earned  the  still  prouder 
distinction  of  being  "first  in  the  hearts  of  your  countrymen." 

I  will  close  with  one  more  remark. 

When  the  Father  of  His  Country  made  his  last  will  and 
testament  he  gave  his  swords  to  his  favorite  nephews  with  an 
injunction  that  they  should  never  be  drawn  from  their  scabbards, 
except  in  self  defence,  or  in  defence  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of 
their  country,  and,  if  drawn  for  the  latter  purpose,  they  should 
fall  with  them  in  their  hands,  rather  than  relinquish  them. 

Yesterday,  your  mother,  Virginia,  placed  her  sword  in  your 
hand  upon  the  implied  condition  that  we  know  you  will  keep  to 
the  letter  and  in  spirit,  that  you  will  draw  it  only  in  her  defence, 
and  that  you  will  fall  with  it  in  your  hand  rather  than  the  object 
for  which  it  was  placed  there,  shall  fail."  (Applause). 

Major  General  Lee  responded  as  follows: 

"Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention — Profoundly 
impressed  with  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion,  for  which  I  must 
say  I  was  not  prepared,  I  accept  the  position  assigned  me  by 
your  partiality.  I  would  have  much  preferred  had  your  choice 
fallen  on  an  abler  man.  Trusting  in  Almighty  God,  an  approv- 
ing conscience,  and  the  aid  of  my  fellow-citizens,  I  devote  myself 
to  the  service  of  my  native  State,  in  whose  behalf  alone,  will  I 
ever  again  draw  my  sword."  (Applause). 


84 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


THE  SWORD  OF  ROBERT  LEE. 

Forth  from  its  scabbard,  pure  and  bright, 

Flashed  the  sword  of  Lee! 
Far  in  the  front  of  the  deadly  fight, 
High  o'er  the  brave,  in  the  cause  of  right, 
Its  stainless  sheen,  like  a  beacon  light, 

Led  us  to  victory. 

Out  of  the  scabbard,  where  full  long 

It  slumbered  peacefully — 
Roused  from  its  rest  by  the  battle-song, 
Shielding  the  feeble,  smiting  the  strong, 
Guarding  the  right,  avenging  the  wrong — 

Gleamed  the  sword  of  Lee! 

Forth  from  its  scabbard,  high  in  the  air 

Beneath  Virginia's  sky — 
And  they  who  saw  it  gleaming  there, 
And  knew  who  bore  it,  knelt  to  swear 
That  where  that  sword  led  they  would  dare 

To  follow  and  to  die. 

Out  of  its  scabbard!  Never  hand 

Waved  sword  from  stain  as  free, 
Nor  purer  sword  led  braver  band, 
Nor  braver  bled  for  a  brighter  land, 
Nor  brighter  land  had  a  cause  as  grand, 

Nor,  cause,  a  chief  like  Lee! 

Forth  from  its  scabbard!  how  we  prayed 

That  sword  might  victor  be! 
And  when  our  triumph  was  delayed, 
And  many  a  heart  grew  sore  afraid, 
We  still  hoped  on,  while  gleamed  the  blade, 

Of  noble  Robert  Lee! 

Forth  from  its  scabbard!  all  in  vain! 

Forth  flashed  the  sword  of  Lee. 
'Tis  shrouded  now  in  its  sheath  again, 
It  sleeps  the  sleep  of  our  noble  slain, 
Defeated,  yet  without  a  stain, 

Proudly  and  peacefully.  — Father  Ryan. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  85 


RECOGNITION  OF  VIRGINIA'S  POSITION  BY  FORMER 

FOES. 

Professor  D.  R.  Anderson. 

"When  the  Constitution  was  adopted  by  the  votes  of  States 
at  Philadelphia,  and  accepted  by  the  votes  of  States  in  popular 
conventions,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  there  was  not  a  man  in  the 
country  from  Washington  and  Hamilton  on  the  one  side  and 
George  Clinton  and  George  Mason  on  the  other,  who  regarded 
the  new  system  as  anything  but  an  experiment  entered  upon  by 
the  States  and  from  which  each  and  every  State  had  the  right 
peaceably  to  withdraw,  a  right  which  was  very  likely  to  be 
exercised."  Lodge,  Henry  Cabot — "Daniel  Webster".  Ameri- 
can Statesman  Series,  new  ed.,  p.  172. 

"The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  presenting  itself 
more  and  more  in  the  light  of  an  agreement  between  two  incom- 
patible sets  of  economic  institutions,  assuming  to  each  the  right 
freely  to  exist  within  its  own  limits."  Wendell,  Barrett — A 
Literary  History  of  America,  quoted  in  "The  Brother's  War" 
—Reed.  p.  29. 

"Having  done  so,  and  admitting  the  facts,  I  add  as  the  result 
of  much  patient  study  and  most  mature  reflection,  that  under 
similar  conditions,  I  would  myself  have  done  exactly  what  Lee 
did.  In  fact,  I  do  not  see  how  I,  placed  as  he  was  placed,  could 
have  done  otherwise."  Lee's  Centennial.  An  address  by 
Charles  Francis  Adams.  Delivered  at  Lexington,  Va.  January 
19,  1907.    p.  7. 

"Legally  and  technically — not  morally — and  wholly  irrespec- 
tive of  humanitarian  considerations — to  which  side  did  the 
weight  of  argument  incline  during  the  great  debate  which  cul- 
minated in  our  Civil  War?  *  *  *  If  we  accept  the  judg- 
ment of  some  of  the  more  modern  students  and  investigators 
of  history — either  wholly  unprejudiced  or  with  a  distinct  union 
bias — it  would  seem  as  if  the  weight  of  argument  falls  into  what 
I  will  term  the  Confederate  scale."  (Charleston) 


86  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


"The  truth  is  that  an  irrepressible  social  conflict  was  at  hand, 
and  that  both  sides  were  as  honorable  as  were  both  sides  during 
the  American  Revolution,  or  during  civil  wars  of  England." 
J.  C.  Reed — The  Brother's  War.  Quotations  from  Charles 
Francis  Adams  at  Chicago  and  Charleston,  1902. 

"We  stabbed  the  South  to  the  quick,  and  during  all  the  years 
of  reconstruction  turned  the  dagger  round  in  the  festering  wound. 
The  spirit  of  war  and  imperialism  has  never  yet  settled  any 
question,  except  the  question  as  to  which  side  is  stronger;  and 
now  after  forty  years,  we  are  beginning  to  learn  that  the  negro 
has  yet  to  be  emancipated.  If  the  South  had  been  permitted  to 
secede,  slavery  would  have  died  a  natural  death,  the  Southerners 
would  have  felt  that  they  had  consented  to  its  demise,  and  they 
would  have  accepted  the  new  order  with  that  attitude  of  ac- 
quiescence which  is  necessary  to  the  success  of  any  social  ex- 
periment. We  have  still  at  this  late  day  to  learn  the  ancient 
lesson  of  Buddha :  "Hatred  does  not  cease  by  hatred  at  any  time ; 
hatred  ceases  by  love;  this  is  an  old  rule." 

The  wisest  thing  that  was  said  by  any  Northerner  at  the  out- 
break of  the  war  was  the  saying  usually  ascribed  to  Horace 
Greeley:  "Let  the  erring  sisters  go."  Mr.  Whitelaw  Reid  has 
loyally  endeavored  to  defend  his  former  chief  from  this  ascrip- 
tion, and  he  declared  that  Mr.  Greeley  never  used  the  words. 
If  Mr.  Reid  is  speaking  solely  in  the  interests  of  historical 
accuracy,  well  and  good;  but  if  he  is  stretching  a  point  to  save 
his  friend,  he  is  doing  him  a  doubtful  service,  for  the  final 
historian  of  the  Civil  War  will  have  to  record  that  these  were 
the  words,  and  the  only  words,  of  wisdom.  If  Mr.  Gladstone 
echoed  them  in  the  spirit  in  which  they  were  uttered,  he  was  right 
and  Mr.  Morley  should  reconsider  his  judgment."  Ernest 
Crosby — The  North  American  Review,    v.  177,  p.  871. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  87 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  MEANING  OF  MEMORIAL  DAY. 

Mrs.  Kate  Pleasants  Minor. 

There  is  no  national  holiday  created  by  Congress,  nor  any  day 
universally  observed  by  order  of  the  National  Government 
unless  it  be  Thanksgiving  Day.  Even  that  day,  while  recom- 
mended by  the  President,  and  now  universally  accepted  by  the 
different  States,  is  only  recommended,  and  not  established  by 
any  Law. 

The  various  days  made  legal  holidays  in  the  different  States 
are  conspicuous  illustrations  of  the  great  principle  on  which 
our  government  is  founded,  that  Congress  has  no  authority  except 
such  as  is  bestowed  by  the  States.  The  two  holidays  dealing 
with  affairs  of  the  nation,  most  widely  known  and  most  deeply 
reverenced,  are  the  Fourth  of  July  and  Memorial  Day. 

To  both  of  these  Virginians  owe  very  special  allegiance. 
The  birthday  of  the  Republic  was  proclaimed  by  a  Congress 
which  adopted  the  declaration  offered  by  Richard  Henry  Lee, 
of  Virginia,  and  finally  prepared  for  ratification  by  that  other 
great  Virginian,  Thomas  Jefferson.  The  independence  of  the 
country  was  won  by  an  army  led  by  our  greatest  Virginian,  save 
one,  and  it  was  on  Virginia's  soil  that  the  final  victory  was 
achieved  which  made  possible  the  United  States  of  America. 

No  less  intimate  and  important  is  Virginia's  share  in  our  second 
great  day.  All  the  Southern  States  may  claim  a  share  with 
Virginia  in  the  inauguration  of  this  beautiful  custom,  but  Vir- 
ginia was  the  battlefield  and  it  is  not  unnatural  that  her  daugh- 
ters should  have  been  the  first  to  recognize  the  sacred  claim  of 
the  immortal  dead  to  their  ministrations.  During  the  summer  of 
1865  the  ladies  of  Winchester,  Virginia,  organized  a  memorial 
association,  and  in  the  spring  of  the  following  year  they  began  the 
work  of  reinterring  the  soldiers  whose  graves  had  been  scattered 
over  the  fields,  in  abandoned  church  yards  and  elsewhere. 
Stonewall  Cemetery  was  not  formally  dedicated  until  October, 
1886,  and  meanwhile,  all  over  the  South,  Memorial  Associations 
had  sprung  up,  having  the  general  purpose  of  caring  for  the  sol- 


88  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


diers'  graves,  and  of  inaugurating  a  yearly  pilgrimage  to  these 
sacred  spots. 

During  the  period  immediately  succeeding  the  war  when  there 
were  no  histories  except  such  as  were  written  by  Northern 
sympathizers,  the  yearly  gatherings  at  the  Confederate  Ceme- 
teries were  the  most  important  opportunities  given  to  teach  the 
children  why  their  fathers  had  fought  and  how  they  had  won 
their  right  to  be  known  as  heroes. 

In  1867,  Mrs.  Jno.  A.  Logan  was  in  Richmond  during  the 
celebration  of  Hollywood  Memorial  Day,  and  became  so  im- 
pressed with  the  beauty  of  the  custom,  that  she  urged  her 
husband,  then  commanding  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
as  the  association  of  Northern  Veterans  is  called,  to  make  a 
similar  celebration  for  the  Northern  Soldiers.  Decoration  Day 
was  accordingly  established  the  following  year,  May  30th  being 
chosen  for  the  Federal  Day,  as  the  Hollywood  Association  had, 
in  its  Constitution,  appointed  May  31st  "or  as  near  that  day  as 
possible,"  for  the  Confederates. 

It  was  not  until  1902  that  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia 
set  the  seal  of  its  approval  on  the  day  long  held  sacred  by  the 
Hollywood  Memorial  Association  as  Memorial  Day,  but  since 
that  time  the  day  observed  throughout  the  North  and  that 
observed  by  statute  in  Virginia  is  May  30th. 

This  country  has  had  two  great  wars:  The  first  was  needed 
to  establish  its  existence ;  the  second  came  near  to  creating  an- 
other government,  and  succeeded  in  changing  materially  the 
principle  on  which  the  government  is  founded.  Virginia  led 
in  both  these  bloody  wars.  In  both  she  gave  of  her  best  and  nob- 
lest sons.  Both  are  remembered  to-day  by  their  great  Virginian 
commanders,  and  the  children  of  Virginia  should  learn  to  know 
Lee's  soldiers,  and  to  understand  the  great  cause  for  which  they 
fought^as  the  world  has  already  learned  to  estimate  Washington, 
and  the  cause  he  represents.  Both  men  were  called  rebels  and 
their  armies  were  called  the  rebel  armies.  Both  did  '  'rebel" 
against  tyranny.  Both  were  patriots  who  fought  to  defend  their 
native  land.    Virginia  children  must  honor  them  equally. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  89 


THE  BONNIE  BLUE  FLAG. 
Harry  Macarthy. 

We  are  a  band  of  brothers,  and  native  to  the  soil, 

Fighting  for  our  liberty,  with  treasure,  blood,  and  toil; 

And  when  our  rights  were  threatened,  the  cry  rose  near  and  far, 

Hurrah  for  the  Bonnie  Blue  Flag  that  bears  a  Single  Star! 

CHORUS: 

Hurrah!  Hurrah!  for  Southern  Rights,  Hurrah! 

Hurrah!  for  the  Bonnie  Blue  Flag  that  bears  a  Single  Star! 

As  long  as  the  Union  was  faithful  to  her  trust, 

Like  friends  and  like  brethren,  kind  were  we  and  just; 

But  now  when  Northern  treachery  attempts  our  rights  to  mar, 

We  hoist  on  high  the  Bonnie  Blue  Flag  that  bears  a  Single  Star. 

— Chorus. 

First,  gallant  South  Carolina  made  the  stand; 

Then  came  Alabama,  who  took  her  by  the  hand; 

Next,  quickly  Mississippi,  Georgia  and  Florida, 

All  raised  on  high  the  Bonnie  Blue  Flag  that  bears  a  Single  Star. 

— Chorus. 

Ye  men  of  valor,  gather  round  the  banner  of  the  right, 

Texas  and  fair  -Louisiana  join  us  in  the  fight; 

Davis,  our  loved  President,  and  Stephens,  statesmen  rare, 

Now  rally  round  the  Bonnie  Blue  Flag  that  bears  a  Single  Star. 

— Chorus. 

And  here's  to  brave  Virginia,  the  Old  Dominion  State. 

With  the  young  Confederacy  at  length  has  linked  her  fate; 

Impelled  by  her  example,  now  other  States  prepare, 

To  hoist  on  high  the  Bonnie  Blue  Flag  that  bears  a  Single  Star. 

— Chorus. 


90  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


Then  cheer,  boys,  cheer,  raise  the  joyous  shout, 

For  Arkansas  and  North  Carolina  now  have  both  gone  out; 

And  let  another  rousing  cheer  for  Tennessee  be  given, 

The  Single  Star  of  the  Bonnie  Blue  Flag  has  grown  to  be  Eleven. 

— Chorus. 

Then  here's  to  our  Confederacy,  strong  we  are  and  brave, 
Like  patriots  of  old,  we'll  fight  our  heritage  to  save, 
And  rather  than  submit  to  shame,  to  die  we  would  prefer; 
So  cheer  for  the  Bonnie  Blue  Flag  that  bears  a  Single  Star. 

— Chorus. 

CHORUS: 

Hurrah!  Hurrah!  for  Southern  Rights  Hurrah! 

Hurrah'  for  the  Bonnie  Blue  Flag  has  gained  the  Eleventh  Star. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  91 


SUGGESTED  PROGRAMME  FOR  SCHOOLS. 

J.  H.  BiNFORD. 

1—  Song  by  School,  "Old  Black  Joe." 

2 —  Recitations  to  follow  each  other  announced — 

1.  "The  Old  Virginia  Gentleman" 

2.  "What  Constitutes  a  State." 

3 —  Instrumental  or  vocal  solo,  "Suwanee  River." 

4 —  Virginia's  Secession. 


Virginia's  Secession. 

Note. — The  States  are  here  arranged  in  the  order  of  their  secession. 
Characters : 

South  Carolina 

Mississippi 

Florida 

Alabama 

Georgia 

Louisiana 

Texas 

Virginia 

Arkansas 

North  Carolina 

Tennessee 

Centralized  Government 

Victory 

Wealth 

Worldly  Honors 
True  Honor 
Robert  E.  Lee 

Each  State  should  be  represented  by  a  girl  wearing  her  name 
on  a  band  worn  like  a  sash.  The  other  characters  should  also 
wear  a  sash  or  a  belt  with  their  name  on  it. 


-2  MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


Enter  to  the  music  of  the  "Bonnie  Blue  Flag,"  South  Carolina, 
Mississippi,  Florida,  Alabama,  Georgia,  Louisiana  and  Texas. 
They  form  a  semicircle  on  the  stage. 

South  Carolina:  "Our  fathers  before  us  taught  us  that  each 
State  entering  the  Federal  Union  was  a  Sovereign  State,  and 
might  leave  the  Union  for  good  cause.  Our  rights  have  been 
trampled  on,  the  Constitution  violated,  and  we  have  exercised 
the  right  of  withdrawal  from  the  Union  which  we  reserved  when 
we  entered  it.  A  new  nation  and  a  new  flag  have  been  born. 
The  roar  of  hostile  cannon  is  heard  in  our  land ;  invading  armies 
are  marching  upon  us — Where  are  our  sister  States — Arkansas, 
North  Carolina,  Tennessee  and  Virginia?" 

[Enter  Virginia,  carrying  the  State  flag,  with  eyes  cast  down  as  if  in  deep 
thought,  and  advancing  slowly  to  the  center  of  stage.] 

All:  "From  the  Potomac  to  the  Rio  Grande  the  South  is  one 
Country;  one  in  blood,  one  in  traditions,  one  in  sentiments.  All 
have  joined  the  Southern  Confederacy  save  four  and  one  of 
these  the  greatest  and  best  beloved  of  all.  What  will  Virginia 
do?    Will  she  deny  her  own?" 

Virginia:  "The  first  Englishmen  who  came  to  the  New  World 
settled  within  my  borders.  When  the  colonies  were  oppressed 
by  a  haughty  King,  it  was  my  Jefferson  who  penned  the  Declara- 
tion ,  my  Washington  who  broke  the  power  of  Great  Britain,  and 
gained  our  independence.  I  gave  an  empire  to  make  the  Union 
of  States  possible,  and  I  love  that  Union  still,  for  my  sons  have 
made  its  history  glorious.  But  my  sisters  of  the  South  now  call 
upon  me  to  share  their  fortunes.  Shall  I  deny  them?  What 
shall  I  do?" 

[Enter  Centralized  Government,  Victory,  Wealth  and  Worldly  Honors.] 

Centralized  Government:  "Choose  me  and  the  Nation." 

Victory:  "If  you  join  the  Confederacy,  you  will  go  down  in 
defeat.    Choose  me  and  the  Nation." 

Wealth:  "If  you  join  the  Confederacy,  your  fields  will  be  laid 
waste,  and  poverty  will  be  your  portion:  Choose  me  and  the 
Nation." 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL.  93 


Worldly  Honor:  "Cast  your  lot  with  the  Union  and  your 
generals  will  lead  victorious  armies  and  your  statesmen  will  oc- 
cupy places  of  honor." 

Virginia:  "Centralized  Government,  Success,  Wealth,  Worldly 
Honors  all  urge  me  to  remain  in  the  Union.  But  I  do  not 
believe  in  centralized  government  and  dearer  to  me  than  success 
and  worldly  honors  and  wealth  is  True  Honor.  I  cast  my 
fortune  with  the  South.  No  foe  shall  ever  cross  my  borders  to 
carry  war  to  my  own  kindred." 

[Centralized  Government,  Wealth,  Worldly  Honors  and  Victory  all  hold 
out  their  hands  in  mute  appeal  to  Virginia,  who  shakes  her  head.  Then  these 
characters  retire  slowly  from  the  stage.] 

Virgina:  "In  the  time  of  sorrow  when  friends  desert  me  and 
the  clouds  of  war  are  hovering  over  my  land  who  will  remain 
true?" 

[Enter  Robert  E.  Lee,  who  comes  and  kneels  before  Virginia.  Virginia 
takes  his  hand  and  raises  him  to  a  place  beside  her.] 

[Enter  True  Honor,  who  takes  her  stand  on  the  other  side  of  Virginia.] 

True  Honor:  "We  are  proud  of  what  Virginia  dared.  We  are 
proud  of  the  spirit  that  prompted  her;  of  her  heroes  who  fought 
for  her,  and  of  the  names  they  have  left  us." 

(Enter  Arkansas,  Tennessee  and  North  Carolina.  | 

Arkansas,  Tennessee  and  North  Carolina-  "We  too  will  join 
the  Great  Confederacy — there  shall  be  no  gap  in  the  Southern 
ranks." 

All  sing  Chorus  of  "Bonnie  Blue  Flag"  and  then  form  in  line, 
Virginia  leading,  and  march  out  singing. 

5 —  Recitation  "The  Sword  of  Lee". 

6 —  Song  by  School — "Virginia." 

7 —  Recitation — "Bivouac  of  the  Dead." 

8 —  Song  by  School — "America." 

This  Programme  is  arranged  with  the  idea  that  the  teacher  will  use  it  as  a 
whole  or  in  part,  selecting  such  features  as  are  adapted  to  the  grade  or  grades 
participating. 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ANNUAL. 


"We  never  owned  a  foreign  rule, 

A  master  he  would  scorn; 

Trained  in  the  Revolution's  school, 

To  Liberty  was  born! 

And  when  they  asked  him  for  his  oath, 

He  touched  his  war-worn  blade, 

And  pointed  to  his  lapel  gray, 

That  bore  the  blue  cockade! 

Like  a  straight-out  States'  Rights  gentleman, 

All  of  the  olden  time" 

uAnd  when  the  words  rang  through  the  land, 
'Coercion  is  to  be!1 
'Coercion  of  the  free?' 
That  night  the  dreadful  news  was  spread, 
From  mountains  to  the  sea; 
And  our  old  Baron  rose  in  might 
Like  a  lion  from  his  den, 
And  rode  in  haste  across  the  hills 
To  join  the  fighting-men, 
Like  a  staunch  Virginia  gentleman, 
All  of  the  olden  time" 
•From  uThe  Old  Virginia  Gentleman,"  By  G.  W.  Bagby. 


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